Thread
by snowwinter486
Summary: It was a normal day for Kobayakawa Sena, a student of Oujou High ...wait! What? Sena/?
1. The Man With Golden Legs

thief-uchia: Well, seeing that I only ever write stories for _Cirque du Freak_, I figured it'll be fun to team up with Nyukisan10. So yeah… I hope you enjoy. And… here goes nothing! BTW, this is based on the manga, not the anime.

Nyukisan10: as some of you know me as the person who jumps form one to another! So…reviews will be very nice!!!

Disclaimer: We own nothing.

Chapter 1: The Man with the Golden Legs

"Sena-kun! Sena-kun!" Mamori exclaimed, waving her arms towards the younger boy. "Today's the day, right? The exam results should be up! Let's go see!"

Sena gulped, regretting everything in that one instant. "Mamori-neechan, wait I…" He fiddled with his fingers, wondering how to phrase the next part of the sentence.

Mamori turned to look at him. "What is it, Sena-kun?" she asked, becoming worried in a single moment. "Do you feel unwell?"

"Well… the truth is…" Sena took a deep breath. _Here I go. What I've practiced forever. These lines…_ "Mamori-neechan, I didn't take the exam for Deimon High School. I… want to show you that I can stand up on my own feet. That is… er… I mean, I'm pretty sure I can survive, and the bullies… ah, I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Mamori blinked, trying to make sense of what Sena was mumbling off to. _He didn't apply to Deimon? Then…?_

----

Sena took a deep breath, trying to calm that beating heart of his. _How did I manage to get here__by myself?_ He wondered to himself as he looked around the high school ground. A Notre Damn-like-school stood proudly as if to beckon him on, and Sena found himself sighing dreamily. _What a beautiful school… Oujou…_

But such thought made the young boy depressed again. _I don't belong here…_ Sena curled into a small ball by the school gate, refusing to even walk in. _Maybe Mamori-neechan__was right. I should've applied for __Deimon __so I could be with her…_

"No!" Sena exclaimed suddenly. He jumped up to his feet, turning towards the school gate. _I applied for Oujou so I can show her that I can stand on my own two feet! I'm not going to be a coward again! _Then he paused again. _But what if I failed? What if Mamori-neechan __was right and I was stupid to even dream about going to Oujou? What if I'll never be anything more than a bully's play thing? What if I'm going to be protected by Mamori-neechan __forever__?_ Sena completely deflated before curling up to a ball again.

Takami watched this with an amused smile on his face. _Is he a rising __freshman? How cute._ Chuckling softly, he walked over to the small ball that Sena made. "Hey there," Takami began as gentle as he could. It wouldn't do to scare the poor kid. He looked scared already even without Takami's help!

Sena looked up shyly, his eyes wide and teary. _Did he not make it to Oujou?_ Takami wondered briefly. Worried, he squatted next to the younger boy.

"Hey, calm down," Takami said, trying to be as comforting as possible. "I'm sure your parents would understand if you didn't make it." Although, wearing the Oujou uniform while saying this might have been slightly more insulting, but it didn't stop Takami from trying. _Why am I even being nice to this __freshman __anyways?_

"Th… thank you," Sena sniffed. He quickly dabbed at his eyes, making sure that he wasn't crying. He shook his head and stood up quickly, looking determined. "I... I haven't failed yet," he explained to Takami. "I was… just building my courage…"

His face flushed when he realized that Takami was giving him a rather amused look. Bashed, Sena quickly bowed streams of apology rushing out of his mouth. "I'm sorry! I must be so annoying! I mean, I'm just a random kid standing in front of the school gate and-"

Takami chuckled lightly. "It's alright," he said. _Funny kid. At least I won't be bored if I help him around._"Then why don't we check the board together?" Takami offered. "Come on, don't be shy. What's your name?"

"K… Kobayakawa Sena," Sena answered. "Ah, and my exam number is 21."

Takami nodded, taking Sena's hand. If Sena didn't know any better, he would've sworn that it was Mamori-neechan who was holding his hand. _Ah… his hand is gentle. Just like Mamori-neechan…_ He smiled hopefully. _Maybe I will be able to do well here in Oujou. I mean, I've already made a friend! __Wait… does he count as a friend? Well, he's definitely being nice…_

"There!" Takami said in his calm voice. He pointed towards a name on the board. "Number 21, Kobayakawa Sena."

Sena stared at the number and his name in disbelief. _I… did it..? _"I'm… I'm an Oujou student!" He exclaimed. He turned to Takami with sparkling eyes. "Thank you so much!"

Takami chuckled lightly. He seemed to be chuckling a lot today. "I really haven't done anything," he admitted openly. He outstretched his hand to the younger boy. "But let me be the first to tell you, Kobayakawa-kun. Congratulations. You are now an official member of Oujou."

Sena shook the older boy's hand, his chest swelling with pride. "I will work hard!" he promised. "Don't worry; I'll make you proud, Mamori-neechan!"

Takami raised a brow. _Mamori-neechan?_ The last he checked, Takami was a guy. And he didn't remember anyone named Mamori… Did Sena confuse him with someone else? Come to think of it, Takami realized that he hadn't told his name to his underclassman. _No wonder he confused me with someone else. _But the fact that Sena confused him with a girl annoyed Takami to no end.

"I'm not Mamori-neechan, but I am Takami Ichiro," he said, more sharply than he had planned.

"Ah!" Sena exclaimed, his face turning red. "I'm so sorry Takami-san! It's just… you remind me of Mamori-neechan." Sena bowed deeply.

Now Takami was curious. Who was this mysterious 'Mamori-neechan?' But to just plainly ask the younger boy would've been rather creepy. So Takami bit back his tongue and nodded good naturally. After all, he still had the guilt-card up his sleeve "I understand," he said rather darkly. "I'm so feminine that you mistook me for your older sister…"

"I'm sorry!" Sena exclaimed, but had to bite back a smile, imagining Takami as Mamori. "But Mamori-neechan isn't my older sister per say. She's just… like a sister to me."

"Is that so?" Takami asked. Then his eyes glanced down at his watch and mentally cursed. "It's already this late? Sorry Kobayakawa-kun, but I must get going. The meeting was supposed to have started five minutes ago!"

Before Sena could question the older boy, Takami gave a wave and left. Takami wasn't that fast when he ran, Sena noticed. _I probably could catch up to him…_ But he stopped himself. His speed was his secret weapon against bullies. He was going to use it like Riku did, not for petty things like chasing after an upperclassman because Sena was too scared to find his own homeroom. Sena nodded to himself. _Yes. I'm going to use my speed to fight!_

"How dare you speak that way to an Oujou girl!?" a voice rang out from the courtyard.

Sena flinched at the yell. _I changed my mind! I don't want to fight!_ He backed away as a tall, white haired boy with very dark rings around his eyes was dragged away from the school. Sena heard a faint "Ikari, don't come back until you fix that attitude!" But by then, he was running at his top speed, away from the scene. _Hiieeee!!! I don't want to die! I just came to this school!_

----

Takami fixed his glasses as the coach continued his pep talk about the death of the Golden Age. _Yeah, yeah. I've heard this lecture enough times already. I know that we're no longer the Golden Age. But…_ His eyes landed on Shin Seijuro. _But with a guy like that…_

Shin was sitting stoically in front of a window. His eyes completely focused on the coach, as if to drink every single word that came out of the coach's mouth. _Figures. He's too serious, that Shin._ Something behind Shin caught Takami's eyes. He frowned. _That's funny… Am I seeing things?_

Shōji Gunpei knew something was wrong the moment Takami suddenly stood up and marched towards Shin. _That's odd. Takami's usually calm._ He opened his mouth to stop him when Takami completely by passed Shin and stared out the window with wide eyes. By now, Takami had everyone's attention. And by then, even Shin saw the blur that Takami was focused on. Shin's eyes, too, was now wide open. Has the speed that could surpass the perfect player appeared right before their eyes?

Shin pulled the window open and jumped outside, landing with ease. The other players watched this with shock. "That Shin… once he finds someone, not even two story building can stop him!"

----

Shin turned a corner, racing towards where he assumed the speed demon had disappeared to. But by then, there was nothing but dust and trees. Shin frowned. _Who was that? And exactly how fast is he? To outrun me so easily…_

Completely ignoring the strange looks he was getting, Shin pulled on a glove. _Whoever you are, this arm will catch you_. "I should go train," he mumbled softly. _So that I might catch that speed._

He gave the empty place one last look. _One day, perhaps._Shin turned and left, jogging towards the gym.

Meanwhile, behind a tree, a certain small brunette sighed in relief. _Good, it looks like that scary guy will leave me alone for now. Thank god…_

Little did he know, that was just the beginning of their meeting.


	2. World of Speed of Sound

Yo! Chapter two already… Thanks to those of you who reviewed!!

Review again. :D

theif_uchia: Thanks a whole bunch for the reviews. This is actually my first time publishing something that's not a one-shot, so forgive any abruptness, character problems, etc.

**NeoGene** : Oh you'll see. Quite a lot of problems to say the least.

**SplitPersonalities** : I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you, then. Hopefully, you'll find the other story, although not as good as ours. ;)

**Chuya**: Then here's the next one. :D

**Anon**: You'll see what Deimon does. After all, it is _Hiruma._ And thanks for pointing out the spacing problem. I didn't realize that my stupid thumb was still having problems… :\

**The Gentleman J** : Alright, I hear you. Here's a better Takami. And expect the Shin problem. It's going to come out… sooner or later.

**Lazaros** : Then here's our goal: To finish this story no matter how long it takes.

**azurese4**: LOL. Yeah, I know. We were actually debating whether to put Sena in Shinryūji before deciding on Oujou. LOL. Can you imagine Agon's face?

Disclaimers: blah blah we don't own Eyeshield 21… blah blah blah…

On with the show!

Enjoy~

---

Chapter 2: World of Speed of Sound

The next day, Sena walked casually towards the school gate. When he looked up, he noticed a certain tall upperclassman from yesterday. With a bright smile, Sena called out to him.

"Takami-senpai!"

Sena picked up an easy jogging pace towards his sempai. After all, it wouldn't do to reveal his speed now. But then he paused when he realized that Takami wasn't alone. "Uh…" Sena stood dumbfounded at the tall blonde smiling down at him.

"Is this the freshman you were talking about Takami-san?"

"Yeah." Takami said, "Sena-kun, this is Sakuraba Haruto, Sakuraba, this is Kobayakawa Sena-kun." Takami introduced.

"Nice to meet you!" Sena said and bowed.

Sakuraba continued smiling. "Nice to meet you, too!" he said, extending a hand out to the younger boy. "Let's get along well."

Sena nodded, feeling his lips stretch into a smile. _See, I can make friends, too!_ He took Sakuraba's hand gratefully. _Now I can tell Mamori-neechan all about this!_

"Takami, it's almost time," Sakuraba said looking at the giant clock on the school. There was an air of excitement around Sakuraba.

"Time for…?" Sena asked curiously. _Could this have something to do with the meeting that Takami-senpai said yesterday?_

"We're in the American Football club." Takami instructed as Sakuraba nodded.

"American… football?" Sena questioned. _What__'__s that? I don__'__t remember ever hearing about it before. Is it something like soccer?_

"Yeah. Hey! Why don't you come watch our practice? Who knows? Maybe you might want to join as well!" Sakuraba asked cheerfully.

Takami looked uncertain at that. "But would that be alright? Sena-kun is so small, after all." But then he paused, realizing he might be offending the younger boy. "I'm sorry, Sena-kun. It's just…"

"No," Sena said, shaking his head. "I understand." _Even here, I am__…_ "But I'd love to see the practice."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Sena found himself being dragged to the practice grounds. _I can__'__t show them my speed. That__'__s my only secret weapon in case someone tries to bully me. _A certain tall white haired boy from yesterday came into mind. _And since American Football is also a sport, I probably would get hurt if I do something stupid. And since I don__'__t have anything but speed, I probably won__'__t be able to be of much help. _His earlier years of PE class came to mind. Sena found himself feeling rather depressed again. _I __guess I __could try to be a manager.__They get to participate in a complete different ways from the players, too. Besides, I can manage managing. _Sena thought. _At least Mamori-neechan will be happy __that __I joined a club__…_

"This is it!" Sakuraba pointed at a large green field with white markings and numbers on it, "Today is tryouts, so there's probably not going to be any real fun. Why don't you tryout with us, too? It'll give you a basic understanding of the game," Sakuraba suggested.

Takami frowned at that. "Sakuraba, I don't think Sena-kun should-"

"Takami-sempai! Sakuraba-kun!" The three of them looked up to see a girl run up to them run up to them. "We-…Oh! Hi there, I didn't see you!" She said kindly as she shook Sena's hand, "I'm Wakana Koharu, Oujou's manager. You are?"

"Kobayakawa Sena, I was asked by Takami-sempai and Sakuraba-sempai to come here." Sena replied with a smile on his face.

"Really?" She looked at Takami, then at Sakuraba with a raised eyebrow. "Is that so?" The two shrugged and went their ways, waving quick goodbyes to Sena.

"They said that I might be inspired to join the team. But to be truthful, I'm more interested in being a manager," Sena admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Koharu jumped, looking obviously delighted. "That's great! I'll teach you all about being a manager! Call me Koharu-neechan, got it?"

"What the hell are you guys doing?!?!" Sena was so startled that he fell over. He saw an old man twitching, yelling at them to come over here and do the tryouts. _What a scary guy__…_ _wait a minute, is he the coach? __Oh no__…_ Sena thought, worrying already. _I__'__m dead, aren__'__t I?_

But Koharu was already prepared. She took Sena's hand with a bright smile. "Come on, Sena! I'll show you what being a manager is all about!"

Sena followed Koharu, helping her and doing what she tells him to do. _Being a __manager_ _is __pretty hard. Looks like I have lots to work on.._. Sena thought as he got water for everyone on the team. He greeted everyone with a smile like Koharu had told him to do. By then, the members were beginning to warm up to him and began to joke around with Sena as well. Sena smiled. _See? I can make friends, too! I was wrong to think that I__'__ll just be bullied! High school really is the best time of one__'__s life!_

Then Sena found the guy who had chased him yesterday. Sena froze, unable to give the guy the water properly. _I thought too soon! He__'__ll definitely kill me! Please don__'__t look up; __I want to live__…_ He began to tremble. He held out the water bottle, but that too, trembled. The boy looked up, and Sena found himself staring into the most stoic expression.

"Uh… er… um… that is," Sena stuttered.

The boy nodded, taking the water from his hand without another world. Sena stared at the boy as the boy continued on to ignore him. Sena sighed in relief. _Thank __god. I don__'__t think he realizes that he was chasing me._

"Alright then, it's time for the most dreaded part of the tryouts. The 40 yard dash." Koharu announced.

The students got in a line, trying to outrun each other. However, most of the speed was the same: 5.5 seconds. Sena frowned. _If 5.5 seconds is the average, I wonder what time I__'__ll get__…_ But his musings were cut short by the no-emotion guy.

"Shin, it's your turn," Takami said, giving the linebacker a pat on the back. _So his name __is Shin... _Sena thought.

"GO!"

Sena's eyes widen as Shin began to run. He stared openly as Shin slowed to a stop couple steps after the 40 yard line. _Shin-san is __so __fast. I__…__I don__'__t think I can keep up with that speed. _Sena felt as if the world was about to end. _If he became this fast only after a day__…__what__'__s going to stop him from killing me the next time he chases me?_

"Shin, your speed increased again, it's 4.37." Takami said, quite amused.

The group of students all nodded knowingly. Sena heard bits and pieces, but pretty much all the talk was the same. No one was as fast as Shin, and therefore Shin was the fastest linebacker in Japan right now. Sena stared at Shin's back with amazement. _That speed__…__there__'__s no way for me to beat it! Ah__…__that__'__s why I__'__ll always run. Because I can__'__t fight against guys like that._

"How good is that?" One of the freshmen asked. Sena's ears perked. He looked up at Takami, knowing that the older boy knew practically everything on earth.

"Let's say Suzuki Ichiro got 4.4 when he became the steal leader... Now do you understand?"

"WOW!" The freshman said in awe.

"It's like sonic feet!" Sakuraba added proudly. Sena smiled. _I guess they__'__re all friends__with each other._

"Sooner or later, you'll be faster than 4.3!" Otawara said happily while patting Shin on his back.

"There's a tall barrier in front of this… The human limit for the 40 yard dash is 4.2 seconds. Even professional athletes find that time to be difficult. If 4.4 is the world of speed of sound, then 4.2 is the world of speed of light. That's what I meant by a tall barrier. It's almost impossible to cross…" Shin concluded with a dark aroma surrounding him. His mind was already on the small figure of yesterday. _That man probably already surpassed it__… __My pathetic run in the world of sound._

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Takami said as he turned to Sena. "Sena-kun, why don't you run too?" he asked with joyous smile on his face.

"But…I'm only helping." Sena protested, realizing that if he were to run now, he might be compared with the best. He turned to look at Koharu, hoping the older girl would come to his rescue. But the girl was busy talking to the coach. Sena was on his own this time.

"Part of a manager's duty is to participate in team activities." Takami said, knowing how to rope the brunette already.

Sena sighed, resigning to his defeat. "If you say so," he said softly. _If I run too fast, Shin-san might realize who I am. I can__'__t let them see my true speed._

"Ready?"

Sena nodded, "Alright… start… Now!"

Everything seemed to slow as Sena dashed forward. _No! I can__'__t use all my speed!_ He slowed himself down just a bit right before the 40 yard line. _This is for the best__…__for the best__…_

Shin's eyes narrowed. _Odd. He__'__s not running his all,_ he realized. _His starting dash was fast but__…__or is he naturally that weak?_

Takami's eyes grew, "Amazing Sena-kun!" he exclaimed, "With a little more training, you could become a valuable player! Why don't you give up on managing and come join the actual team?"

"Eh?!" Sena exclaimed, "Why? What was my time?"

"5.0 seconds on the dot." Takami said proudly. "It's exactly the same time as Sakuraba!"

Sena brightened. "Really?" he exclaimed, looking quite happy. But he quickly sobered when asked to join the team again. Sena thought hard about this. _If I __play a sport, I can become stronger. And by doing so,__I can __show Mamori-neechan that I can stand on my own two feet._He looked back at Takami. _But __playing a sport __hurts__…_ _no! I __don__'__t want to __be weak __and protected __anymore! But__…__if I had ran my all just then__…__I wonder what would__'__ve happened. __Would Shin-san have realized__…__? Would he have beaten me up?_

With a deep breath his looked up at Takami "Takami-sempai, I…I…" Sena gulped. "I'll do it!" he said, determination shining in his eyes. Takami smiled proudly at him. _Don__'__t worry Sena, I__'__ll make certain that you aren__'__t murdered on the field._

"Welcome to the American Football Club, Kobayakawa Sena." Takami said.

He noted that the coach had been staring at the latest run and Takami bit back a smirk. The coach was tapping his chin, looking rather thoughtful. But Takami highly doubted that the coach was thinking about using Sena. After all, Sena was too small to be used! _That__'__s right. With Shin__'__s incredible run and Sakuraba__'__s height__…__this year__'__s Oujou will dominate the rest! We will defeat __Shinry__ū__ji Naga__as well!_

"Sena!" They turned around to see Koharu calling him over. Obediently, Sena walked over to her.

"Could you buy some cleats for the team? Here's the money and the list of all the sizes. Sorry for making you do this even though you just came here." She said in an apologizing tone. "But the coach wants me to measure everyone's bench press!"

"It's fine Koharu-neechan!" Sena said happily.

He ran off, his running a bit faster than his time. Shin saw the change and frowned. _So I was right. He is fast. But why did he hold back? Was he scared that he might outrun me, thus causing people to look down on me? Now that I think of it, he was trembling earlier when he saw me. Is he a fan? But more importantly, is he the boy from yesterday? _Shin turned to Takami. "Takami-san, there's something I want to check out…"


	3. The Man Wrapped In Chains

thief_uchia: So how has people been?

Nyukisan10: well, here goes the next chapter, review please!!!

**The Gentleman J**: I thank you for your comment. I didn't realize that I wasn't really focusing on the action/putting in too much thought. Hopefully, this chapter will fix that. I've also looked over the spacing issue, so I hope it's fixed (crosses fingers), but we'll just have to see about that. I don't mind the criticism, J. It's rather refreshing to see honest responses than the genetic, "I really like this fic, please update." And thanks for reading it so fast! :D As for Sena being loaned… it's rather embarrassing how close you got to the actual idea! Perhaps the plot's an easy read?

**albinochilde** : Thanks! But I'm not too sure about the pairing. We'll see how it turns out, won't we?

**iamalex117** : Ah, sorry. As thief-uchia stated earlier, she's more used to writing one-shots. So I guess she's really getting into the wonders of chapter-fics (also known as cliffhangers)? But yes, no matter where, Sena starts out as the manager. :3

**StunningSpellRocks2345** : Thanks.

As usual, we don't own.

Enjoy~~

---

Chapter 3: The Man Wrapped in Chains

Sena looked down at the hastily drawn map, scratching the back of his head. _So if I take a turn here, then I should end up at the store. But__…_ He looked up from the map, frowning. He glanced around, but no matter how he turned the map, the streets and the map just didn't match up. Sena sighed. "Did I take a wrong turn?"

Completely forlorn, he began to look around frantically. Sena took a quick turn, looking for the kindest-looking people to ask for help, but ended up bumping into someone else. Sena stumbled and then steadied himself. Looking up sheepishly, he said, "S… sorry."

A rather evil looking human wearing the Zokugaku uniform glared down at Sena. "Huh? Watch where you go!" He growled, a rather long tongue flicking around. _Li__…__lizard?!_ There were other thugs behind this lizard-human hybrid, leading Sena to believe that the hybrid was the leader of the group. This meant one of three things for Sena. The first was that Sena was about to become beaten badly. The second was that Sena could become their new gopher. The last was that Sena could run for his life.

_Ah, I must have done something wrong in my past life._ Sena silently prayed to whatever deity was up there to protect him. Then he turned to the lizard with a polite bow, apology streaming out of his mouth. But when he peeked up, he noticed that the thugs were creating a tighter ring around him, blocking all chance of escape. Some were even cracking their knuckles, chuckling in anticipation. Sena gulped. _There goes __the rest of my __life__…_

----

Ikari was not having a good time. Just yesterday, he had finally returned to school after suspension only to be suspended that same day. And then there was today. He was bored out of his mind and the arcade owner had just kicked him out… Again. It wasn't Ikari's fault that the stupid machine couldn't keep up with his strength! How was he supposed to know that the machine would break after one kick? He certainly didn't see it coming.

So Ikari walked down the street, fuming angrily. People knew better than to get in the way of the white-haired boy and kept their distance. Of course, all but one group. Ikari prided himself on being strong and scary. In fact, he prided himself on being able to scare away adults with just one look. The fact that this group was not disappearing after Ikari had appeared did not make him happy. Not one bit.

Then Ikari saw the white uniform. He frowned. There was only one kind of white uniform that Ikari recognized with one glance. And that was the uniform of his school: Oujou. A bunch of nobodies were bulling a student from Oujou. The fuming hot-headed delinquent became easily more enraged.

"You!" Ikari screamed. "You think Oujou students are play toys?!"

To say that none of the thugs expected the punch was an understatement. And to say that Ikari had a hard punch was also an understatement. The first thug fell to the ground, couple of teeth falling out as well. There was a slight pause before the leader, the lizard-human also known as Habashira Rui, turned to face Ikari. But by then, Ikari had moved on to another thug, knocking the next guy completely unconscious as well.

"Kill _him_!" Habashira shouted, Sena completely forgotten. In fact, most of the thugs forgot that Sena existed. They were too busy trying to fight against the Prison Chain Ikari.

Letting out a soft sigh in relief, Sena quietly sneaked away. He didn't get too far before the infamous delinquent proudly threw his head back and turned to face where Sena used to stand. By then, most of the thugs were on the ground or running the opposite direction from Sena. Ikari grinned heroically. But then he paused. _Where__'__d that kid go?_ He looked to the left then to the right. And when he spotted Sena, trying to sneak away… let's just say that there were few things in the world that Ikari could forgive.

"You little coward!!!" Ikari screamed. "Grow a backbone!"

Ikari ran after the boy, his arms posed to punch that little chicken. Ikari expected the little coward to tuck his tail in-between his legs and run. What Ikari didn't expect, however, was the speed. He paused for just a second, but that second was more than enough for the speedy younger boy. Ikari gaped as the smaller boy made his way across the street in record time. _Is he on the track team?_

----

Sena slowed down when he realized that he was no longer followed. He looked around, just to make certain that no one was following. No thug that way, no lizard-hybrid this way, and definitely no crazy Oujou student in any way. Sena let out the breath that he's been holding. Smiling more cheerfully, Sena took a step forward. Then he paused. Sena looked around again, but this time, he wasn't looking at people. This time, he was looking at land mark.

"Ah crap…" Sena mumbled to himself.

Since Sena was completely distracted, it only makes sense that Sena was caught. Ikari's tackle brought Sena to the ground. And with a loud sneer, Ikari questioned the brunette, making certain that Sena was paying attention. "Are you an Oujou student or not?!"

The question was so random, at least to Sena, that he stared blankly at Ikari before slowly nodding his head. Ikari, looking further enraged, brought up a fist. Sena flinched. But the punch never came. In fact, there was a frustrated growl before Sena was pulled upright.

"Then look, kid! You can't be a whimp! Number one thing about Oujou is that it's the toughest school in the nation!" Ikari began his speech.

Sena blinked. _Really__…__?_

"Grow a backbone, got it? You've got enough speed to fight those idiots, so why didn't you?" Ikari jabbed a finger at Sena's chest, making the younger boy flinch. "You've got to use everything to your advantage, got that?"

_This speech seems familiar for some odd reason__…_

"Hey, you even listening to me?!"

Sena quickly nodded. "Yes, I'm listening, er…"

"Ikari," the delinquent snapped. Then he paused, glancing around. They were in a rather dark looking street. Bunch of neo signs began to turn on, due to how late it was getting. People began to slowly walk around, dressed in rather questionable outfits. Ikari patted his chin thoughtfully. "Any reason why you stopped at the red light district?"

"EH?!"

After a few moment of explanation, and a lot of patience from Sena, Ikari finally took the younger Oujou student to the sport shop. There, they quickly purchased the item in question and began the perilous journey back to Oujou. Or at least that's what it felt like to Sena. Walking around with a rather bored looking Ikari, apparently, wasn't too smart. But then again, walking around Ikari at all wouldn't be smart at all. Most people stayed clear of them, and Sena found himself mentally crying. _What did I ever do?_ _Well, at least I__'__m not a gopher__…_ He looked over to the prison chain Ikari, slightly guilty that the older boy was carrying all of the items. Sena had protested, but one look from Ikari's glare and Sena's will crumbled to pieces.

"Judging from these shoes," Ikari began, trying to clear away the awkward silence between them. Not that he cared or anything, but his underclassman looked rather freaked out and it wouldn't do to get expelled for scaring a little kid. "I'm guessing you're in the soccer team or something?"

"Ah, no. I was trying out for the American Football team," Sena shyly explained.

"American football? What's that?"

Here, Sena was completely stumped. Takami or Sakuraba hadn't stopped to explain anything to him. In fact, they said something about experience being the best teacher or something. _Well, if they need someone fast like Shin, then it must have something to do with speed. But everyone__'__s really tall, too. Maybe it__'__s a sport about height and speed? Sort of like basketball?_

"Actually," Sena admitted. "I'm not too sure. They never explained it to me."

"What? So you're playing a sport that you have no idea how to play?"

"I'm not really a player," was the shy answer Ikari received. Ikari rolled his eyes. "What? Too scared to actually play?"

Sena nodded with a sheepish chuckle. Ikari would've thrown his hands up with a frustrated growl if it weren't for the cleats in his arms. But by then, they were at Oujou's school gate. With an annoyed sneer, he shoved all the cleats in Sena's arms and left. Sena, after struggling with the sudden appearance of the items in his arms, managed to croak, "Thank you, Ikari-san!"

"There you are!" Koharu's voice rang out.

Sena tried to look around the cleats. "Koharu-neechan!"

Koharu took couple of the cleats from Sena so that the smaller boy could see properly. Then she began lecturing. "What took you so long? We were about to send out search parties for you!"

Sena quickly apologized. Then he apologized that he couldn't bow properly without dropping the cleats. Koharu rolled her eyes. "Forget about it," she said. "Just make sure to apologize to Takami-san and Shin-san. They've been waiting very patiently for you."

"Eh? For what?"

"A test. To see which position you should play," Koharu answered as she rolled her eyes. Clearly, she thought that this was a rather stupid idea. After all, Sena had said that he wanted to be a manager, not a player! But Takami could be devilishly persistent when he wanted to. Or was that persistently devilish?

With a soft, "Oh," Sena followed Koharu towards the football field. The sun was beginning to set, and the lights were on. Few of the members were on the field, doing what seemed to Sena like a mass tackling fair. Sena gulped. _Here goes nothing!_


	4. Over My Head

Nyukisan10: I'm here again! Please review, we really need to know what we need to look over. Also, I can't believe its chapter four already…wow. On with the story!!

Disclaimer: Both authoresses do not own Eyeshield 21 no matter how hard we beg, end of discussion.

Enjoy~ (and review)

**Ryu Earth** : Pretty much, yeah. XD

**stealingthestars** : Don't be too hard on yourself. As we've stated before, our goal is to finish this story. ;) But comments are always loved! Most likely, Ikari didn't beat up Sena due to the second reason. I really can't see him going against an Oujou student. Maybe I'm biased?

**Reader One** : Thanks!

**SplitPersonalities** : Ah yes, the wonderful life of Kobayakawa Sena. LOL. He's just a real fun character to play with. And don't worry about not reviewing before. As long as you review now, it all makes up for it!

--XxX—

Chapter four: Over My Head

"Yes Takami-san?" Sena ran over to the third year captain, finally freed from the evils of carrying the cleats.

"Sena, go change into some protective equipment, a jersey, and a helmet. They should be laid out for you in the locker room. Then come back over here and I'll explain the rest." Takami said with a slight restraint that made Sena wonder if he did something wrong.

But nonetheless, Sena nodded and went along. I mean, how bad could it be? He walked into the locker room and found Sakuraba waiting for him inside. Sakuraba gave Sena a what he supposed was a reassuring smile along with a small white jersey with the number '21' on it. Sena smiled. _I guess Takami-san decided that that was my lucky number._

"Thank you," Sena said with a smile.

Sakuraba nodded and helped Sena with the protective equipment. It wasn't too complicated, Sena decided. He would be able to put it on if the Coach decided to use him in a game. Sena mentally snorted at the thought. _Yeah right._

As soon as he was all strapped in and ready, Sena put on his helmet and followed Sakuraba out of the locker room. As promised, Takami was waiting for him. Of course, there were other team members also waiting patiently for him, but Sena figured he could ignore them. It wasn't like Takami was going to force him to fight all of them or something… right?

"Here, Sena." Takami passed a football to him. Sena caught it with slight difficulty, much to Takami's concern. "Now, hold the football in between your fingers and tuck it under your armpit." Takami instructed, as Sena did so. "Get comfortable with that position, okay?" Sena nodded.

"But, Takami-san, why am I doing this?" Sena asked.

"Simple. We want to test you a bit more before you officially join the team. Don't worry, it should be fairly simple. All you have to do is run from here, to the other side when I blow my whistle." Takami said nicely, ignoring Sena's questioning look, "Also, try not to get tackled."

"EH?!?" Sena shrieked eyes wide with fear.

_TWEET_!

"Eh? Eh?" Sena just stood there, looking rather baffled. _Is he trying to kill me?!_Sena noticed that the light was suddenly dimmed. He looked confusedly up, only to see that a quite a lot of people he hadn't noticed before were rushing at him. "HIIIEEEEE!!" He screamed. Instinct took over as he ran past all of them with the speed he used to run errands. However, as soon as he passed one, another one would take up his place. Sena ran from one place to another, not realizing that he was getting closer to his goal.

_Could this guy be...?_Everyone had heard of the rumor of the other day. And then there were the few who were there to witness it. How abruptly Takami had stood, and just as if someone had blown a 'Shin' whistle, Shin had ran after the dust cloud. The demonic speed that had taunted Shin all day yesterday and today. The speed that he couldn't reach… _I had my doubts__…__But now I am certain. That speed was you, __Kobayakawa __Sena!!_

Shin readied himself for the speed. _This time, you will not surpass me!_ The memory of yesterday's run was burned deep in his mind. Shin steadied his heart, watching as Sena sped past another group of defenders. "Interesting," Shin found himself whispering. Almost as soon as his whisper was out of his mouth, Sena cut quickly past another defender and was headed towards Shin.

Shin found himself gritting his teeth; his eyes burning with determination. Last time was the second time in his life that he was surpassed in speed, and Shin swore never again. He lowered himself, calculating his usual spot for his special attack when… Sena slowed down. Shin frowned. _Why__…__?_ Thankfully, Shin was fast enough to adjust to the sudden speed change and tackle the younger boy to the ground. He glanced at the obviously frightened boy, ready to voice his question when Takami interrupted him.

"Shin! Don't kill him! You guys are on the same team!" Takami said angrily as he ran to Sena asking him if he was alight.

"Ow… I… I think so." Sena said with a pained face. He placed a hand on where Shin tackled. _That__'__s right this is what it is__…_ _This is __pain__…_ _It hurts__…_ Sena remembered why he was a gopher: because he didn't like pain. _I should stop._He sighed softly to himself. _Mamori-neechan was right__…_

Takami looked down at Sena with worry. This was not what he had expected from Shin. _Damn him and his random request!_ He marched over to the linebacker; his lips a thin line. As he left, Koharu quickly fluttered around Sena, giving him a towel and a water bottle. She also checked him over for any serious injuries.

---

"What do you guys think of Sena?" Shohei asked, his eyes still on the small form of the boy.

Almost everyone yelled at the exact same time, "He's fast!"

The Coach smacked his forehead. Figures that everyone would state the obvious! But he noticed that Shin hadn't said a word. Curious, he turned to the stoic teen. "Shin?"

"He's probably a touch football player. A self-taught player who has been playing for years without instruction. That change of direction can't be learned in a day. Therefore, he can't be an amateur, but his running…is pure fear." Shin stated, staring at the small boy as Koharu forced water down his throat. There really was one reason that Shin could think of that would cause Sena to be unable to run his best. As if he could sense when he's being stared at, Sena looked up at Shin with a curious look. "He could be of great use."

The team looked astonished at Shin. _Wow,__as always, Shin says amazing things!_ Shohei nodded, clearly impressed with Shin. He tapped his chin thoughtfully, his thoughts obviously on a certain small boy.

----

Takami tapped on Shin's shoulder. When he was certain that Shin's attention was on him, Takami began his lecture. "I understand that you have your pride as the fastest man in Tokyo, but that doesn't mean you can injure anyone else who's faster than you!"

"I didn't tackle him any harder than I would someone else," Shin answered. "It would be stupid to destroy my rival before he has a chance to bloom."

Takami was obviously taken back at Shin's declaration. _Rivals? But you__'__ve just met!_

While Takami was in his own world, Shin walked up to Sena. With a stiff nod, Shin took off his gloves and gave it to Sena. This was something that Shin saw Sakuraba do with his fans. Although, usually, Sakuraba signed an item before he gave it away. But he figured Sena would be much happier with his gloves even if they weren't signed. That was something else Sakuraba had told him. Fans liked personal items. And to Shin, nothing got more personal than his training gloves. So Shin figured he could give the personal item to encourage the speedy boy. Said boy stared at him as if he had just grown two heads.

"… eh?" Sena asked.

"I understand that as my fan, you feel the need to let me shine. But I need you to run your all. Please don't hold back this time. I already know that I must improve myself. You will not embarrass me if you outshine me." Shin said before turning and leaving.

_I__'__m __Shin-san__'__s__…_ _fan? _Sena rubbed the back of his neck. Did he mistake me for someone else? _Is that why he chased me? Because he doesn__'__t like fans?_ Sena chuckled lightly at the thought. But the moment was washed away when he realized that Shin's words meant that Sena had to run again. Sena felt depression sinking in. _But I__'__m not good enough. I__'__m not fast enough! _He stared at Shin's gloves. _I__'__m sorry, Shin-san, but I just can__'__t__…__I should just tell the coach that I quit and-_

"Sena!" The coach called Sena over. "Have you ever had someone coach you in your running?"

"Um…" Sena thought hard. _Does Riku counts as a coach?_ Sena figured he might as well as mention it. "One of my friends taught me how to run…" Sena admitted.

"For how long?" A curious team member asked.

"For about a week or two," Sena said.

To say that the team was astonished would be putting it lightly. _After one week, he learned how to run __like that?! Then with proper coaching__…_ _he will be the fastest man in __Japan!_

Shohei mentally grinned. _Perhaps loosing the Golden Generation__isn__'__t __that bad._ He nodded, his face as grim as always. "Alright then," he began, "I expect great things from you. Now go back to positions! We're doing that run again!"

"Uh… Coach, I was actually going to say-" Sena was cut off when excited team members patted his back friendly.

"Alright, Kobayakawa!" someone said. "Surpass Shin, alright?" It was said jokingly, but Sena paled at the thought. Pass that crazy stoic guy? He just couldn't do it!

"With your speed, we'll be able to defeat Shinryūji!"

"Yeah, we leave it all to you, Kobayakawa-kun!"

Sena stared at the retreating backs of the strong team members, about to blurt out that he couldn't do it. But the grins and the confident smiles sent his way shut his mouth. What right did he have to crush their hopes? They believed in him. Sena blinked at the thought. Believe? Someone believed in _him_? But what if he crumbled? What if he couldn't hold onto everyone's expectations? Sena bit his lips. This was his chance. He had to speak out now, before they decided to put him in actual games.

"Nervous?" Shohei asked, barely glancing at Sena. Sena nodded. "You should be. They're placing all their trust on you. Do you know what this means? No matter what, you mustn't disappoint them."

"B-but! I – "

"Give yourself a chance. You'll be surprised."

In matter of moments, Sena found himself in the same position from before. The football was tucked tightly under his armpit. But this time, he was ready. He knew what would happen now. The whistle would go off, and bunch of the team members would rush in for him. Except this time, they'd be slower, because they were certain that they couldn't catch Sena. Because they knew that the real point of this match was to see how Sena did against Shin. Sena exhaled slowly, feeling the breath leave his body. His eyes traveled past all the other players and rested on a certain number 40.

_I don__'__t __think I can do it__…__I__'__m scared__…__I don__'__t think I can._

Sena heard the whistle. Just as expected, he easily sprinted past most people. _But isn__'__t this what I wanted? To fight for myself. To have friends who believe in me. To no longer be protected._ Sena gritted his teeth. There was one more person waiting for him, ready to block him. Shin. _Then__…__let me fight for myself!_ With that determination, Sena pushed on towards Shin. _To defeat that man that scares me!_

_His __fear__…_ _It disappeared completely. _Shin thought surprised. _But it __doesn__'__t_ _matter;__I will catch him __with this hand!_ Shin readied his spear tackle, ready for when Sena arrives. Quickly calculating the route that Sena would take, he pulled back and launched. But Sena wasn't there. Shocked and stuned, Shin turned as fast as he could. But by then, he was far too late. Sena was out of reach, in the touchdown area, kneeling and gasping for air. Shin stared at the younger boy. _So that__'__s the speed __that I can__'__t even dream of catching__…__the speed of light._

Shin walked towards the smaller boy, feeling slightly put out. Shin, the fastest lineback in Japan had been surpassed. He wasn't too sure what this dark feeling was but understood that as long as Shin trained, everything would be fine. Shin outstretched his arms to Sena, who stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Con-" Shin began. But didn't get to finish as Sena just collapsed on the ground. Shin blinked. He then remembered the time when the girls fainted because Sakuraba had smiled at them. _I suppose that__'__s what happens when you__'__re a fan,_ Shin decided with a nod.


	5. The Man Stalked by Fan Girls

thief_uchia: And we're back! Because someone asked me long time ago what Deimon would be doing… I figured I'd have this chapter! :3 Have fun!

Nyukisan10: Sweet! We actually got to the 5th chapter!! YAY!!! (Throws hands in the air) Oh yeah! I just want to say that the song Touchdown Turnaround reminds me of a certain chibi running-back... Well, enjoy this chapter and review please!

Disclaimer/Warning: We don't own.

**Ryu Earth (too lazt to log in)** : Well, I figured it'd be pretty obvious plot, so I decided to throw in some curve balls to amuse others. :D I'm glad to hear that it worked so well!

**SplitPersonalities** : I get the feeling he does that in the manga as well. Plus I wanted a little surprise for all of you!

**NeoGene** : Glad to hear it! :D

**itachisgurl93** : Thanks! And I hope this is soon enough for you!

**Bibity** : LOL. Bricks for brains! That's a great way to describe him! XD! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**green-road** : Sweet! Thanks! :D

**chuya** : Ah, sorry! Nyukisan10 insisted that I shouldn't make the chapters too long. So when in doubt, blame it on her! (Nyukisan10: WHAT?!)

---

Chapter 5: The Man Stalked by Fan Girls

Sena stretched, yawning rather loudly as he did so. _5:45 AM. Yosh! _He jumped out of bed and quickly changed out of his pajamas to a jogging suit. He then proceeded to tiptoe out of the dorm room, trying not to wake his sleeping roommate. Shutting the door behind him, he quickly made his way to the dormitory's entrance. Humming lightly, he began stretching. _And he should be here in about__…_

"Good morning, Kobayakawa-kun," said Shin as he approached the smaller boy. Shin did not slow down, but instead continued to jog on. Normally, people would find this rather rude. But not a certain Kobayakawa Sena.

Sena smiled brightly, completely unfazed. "Good morning, Shin-san," he answered. He easily caught up with Shin and they began their usual morning jogs.

It's been five days since school started and Sena was beginning to get used to this routine. Not to mention his muscles were beginning to get used to this schedule. Every morning, the two would meet up and go jogging for about an hour. Afterwards, they would go to morning practice, where more jogging and couple of pass routes were mastered. Because Sena couldn't stand the thought of going to class sweating, he would always take a very quick wash before leaving for class. Then he would dutifully go to class, trying hard not to fall asleep when the teacher began talking. During lunch time, Takami would always stop by to make certain that Sena was eating a healthy lunch. Really, sometimes Sena swore Takami was Mamori in disguise… that is if Mamori was a guy and played American Football. Sena would always pause here and think guiltily that he needs to call his neechan. But he'd be quickly distracted by the arrival of Shin and Sakuraba, both wanting a light jog before lunch period was over.

After classes were finally over, Sena would let out a sigh of relief. Then, without a doubt, he'd be seen (or at least his dust cloud) running towards the football field at the top of his speed. Usually, the coach gave a pep talk before sending them all on individual training. For Sena, this involved lifting weights, aerobic exercise, long-distance running, and catching. The first three made sense to the young boy. He was physically weak, so he should work on getting stronger. Flexibility was also useful to a runner. And since he couldn't keep up his speedy run for a long period of time, he should work on his endurance. However, working on catching had come as a major surprise for Sena, who had by then learned the basic gist of the game.

"I have to catch the ball as well? I thought you wanted me to just run with the ball," Sena had protested when he had first found out.

"Yes," Shōji had agreed. "But it's always an advantage for us to have a running back who can intercept at will. Normally, this would be Sakuraba's training, but…" Here, the coach's mouth thinned into a line, his eyes on a certain tall receiver. Then he sighed and shook his head. "It's just training," he said finally. "It doesn't mean you'll be actually catching in the game."

Sena took those words to heart.

After training, Sena would always find Shin. And with a wordless greeting, the two would go off on their evening jog to 'cool down' before going to their respective dorms. Sena would quickly fly through his homework before taking a warm shower. It was around then that he would realize that he had a roommate and begin to talk to him. After a couple of minutes of talking, Sena would fall asleep. Then, Sena's day would repeat as soon as the alarm rang and Sena jumped out of bed. It was very simple schedule. And as Shin had told Sena, a tight schedule would help him increase his training.

However, it just so happened that that day was not like the rest. As soon as Sena walked in for the pep talk from Shōji, everything went downhill.

"Good aft-" he began.

The whole room was silent as a grave, and Shōji was no where to be seen. Sena blinked. "Uh…?" He got the feeling that he had just walked in one a rather serious discussion. Or perhaps an argument. Or perhaps a bit of both.

"Sena-kun!" Koharu exclaimed, looking relieved. "Great! You can go!" At those words, the whole room relaxed. Most of the teammates turned to face each other with forced laughter and jokes.

"But go where, Koharu-neechan?" Sena looked confusedly at Koharu.

"To the Deimon Devil Bats vs Koigahama Cupids match tomorrow!"

"Eh?! There's a match tomorrow?"

"You know, for the Spring Tourniment?" Koharu tried again.

Sena just stared at her, looking dumbfounded. Koharu threw a dirty look at the other players who were doing their best to ignore the two. "Figures. They didn't even bother to tell you," she grumbled under her breath. She the let out a resigned sigh and took Sena aside. "Sena-kun, why do you think we're training so hard?"

"Uh… well… isn't it so we'd look cool?" Sena asked, smiling nervously.

"Is that what American Football means to you? Looking cool?" Koharu snapped, quickly becoming enraged at such a suggestion. The others flinched at the sudden yell. They glanced at Sena and quickly looked away. Almost as if they were saying, 'Sorry, but better you than me.'

Sena quickly shook his head no and apologized. "I'm sorry! That's not what I meant!"

Koharu rolled her eyes, but calmed herself anyways. "_We_ are training because we're aiming to defeat… _them_."

All the laughter and jokes died in the room. Sena looked around, surprised. _What__'__s going on? Why__'__s everyone so tense?_

"Therefore," Koharu finished with a bright smile. "You're going to watch this game so we know what to expect for our first match."

"Oh! So I'm going to be spying!" Sena exclaimed when everything dawned on him. Then he paused. "Eh?! Isn't that illegal?! What if I get caught?"

"Don't worry, Sena-kun," Takami said walking into the room. "Since this is an official match, it's not illegal at all. Other teams will be watching the game as well. And it's called 'scouting,' not 'spying.' Besides, you won't be going alone, so don't worry too much about getting 'caught.'"

"Ah… is that so…?" Sena mumbled. "But what's so bad about this match? Why does no one else want to go?"

"It's not the match, per say…" Keisuke, running back with the number 32, began. "It's…"

Sakuraba and Shin walked into the room. Everyone became silent. Keisuke's face visibly paled. Then suddenly, everyone jumped up and left, saying something about training. Sena frowned. _Could Shin-san have something to do with this?_

The rest of the practice went normally, like all others. The only difference was that at the end of practice, Koharu took Sena aside to speak to him. She handed him a camera, some batteries, and video tapes. Then she went into an in-dept explanation of how to use the camera to maximize the filming experience. Sena just nodded mutely, hoping that he remembered even half the things she said.

"But Koharu-neechan, didn't you say that I won't be going alone?" Sena asked confused. If he was going with a partner, wouldn't he be able to leave the filming of the game to the other person?

Koharu's lips thinned. Sena got the feeling that he had just trespassed on an unwanted territory.

"I know I'm throwing it a lot at you, and I apologize for that," Koharu finally admitted. "But it's for emergency, you understand? We tried to train Shin-san, but Coach won't forgive us if we break another camera. I wish you the best of luck!" Then she walked away with a look that seemed to say, 'Poor thing, I wish I could help, but what can I do? I'm just a manager.' Perhaps that's not what the look said exactly, but that's how Sena felt the gaze said.

_How bad can it be?_ Sena found himself wondering. _And what does she mean by __'__break another camera?__' __Did something happen? Jeesh, now I__'__m scared being partners with __Shin__…_

Then came the dreaded day…

---

"Now that I think about it, Mamori-neechan goes to Deimon, doesn't she?" Sena mumbled. "Ah… I probably should've called her and told her to meet up somewhere. Well, since it is a Saturday, it should be okay… right? Not to mention that I haven't seen her in forever."

Sena was standing by himself at the metro station, waiting for his supposedly terrifying partner. _I don__'__t think Shin-san__'__s that bad though. He just__…__have a strange way of thinking._ He glanced at a clock nearby, wincing when he realized that they might be slightly late for the game. _It__'__s not like Shin-san to be late. He__'__s always on time for the morning jogs and everything._

"Kobayakawa-kun!" And all thought of Mamori and Shin went out the window.

Sena steeled himself. That voice wasn't Shin's voice. He gulped. _Who the hell is my partner then?_ He slowly looked up. Then blinked. _Huh? But that doesn__'__t make much sense._ Smiling but slightly confused, he jogged lightly towards a waving Sakuraba.

"Are you my partner for spying? Oh, that's right, it's scouting, right?" Sena asked, mildly relieved and surprisingly disappointed when Sakuraba nodded yes. If it had been Shin, Sena had been prepared to go jogging afterwards with him. For some odd reason, Shin had a way of greeting Sena with a casual, "Want to train?" And for some odd reason, Sena found that he missed that.

He shrugged off the thought. Oh well. Sakuraba can't be that bad… right?

Sakuraba let out a nervous chuckle. "Let's get going. We don't want to be too late to the game."

---

Sena and Sakuraba walked towards the Heavenly Grounds. Sena really didn't understand the reason for his teammates' reaction of being partners with Sakuraba. Sakuraba really wasn't a bad companion at all. The two talked merrily about things and Sena felt completely comfortable. With Shin, there was always silence that made it awkward to speak, but with Sakuraba, Sena felt it was easier to talk.

"You have no idea how bad Shin is with technology!" Sakuraba said with a laugh. "The last time, he broke the camera we gave him just by touching it! That guy maybe the perfect player on the field, but with technology, he's more of a klutz!"

"Sa… Sakuraba-chan!" squealed a voice.

Sena looked up, wincing from the high-pitched voice, just in time to see a girl swoon and fall from an impossible height. With a loud "Hiiieeee!", Sena ran under the girl, cushioning the fall with his body. Sakuraba stared with wide eyes, unsure of who to help. "Are… are you alright?" he asked, trying to help them both.

The girl stared at Sakuraba's hands before letting out a loud squeal and fainting. It took both of them to pick up the unconscious girl and place her somewhere that they both deemed safe. Then they came to the football game, both trying to shrug off the incident. Sakuraba took out the video camera and turned to Sena with an apologetic look.

"Sorry about that, Kobayakawa-kun," he said. "But I suppose you understand their urges, right?"

Sena cocked his head. "Urges? I'm afraid I don't, Sakuraba-san."

Sakuraba, who had been told by Shin that Sena was actually a rabid fan boy, blinked. "Eh? But Shin said…?"

The two stared at each other for a second. With a nervous laugh, they looked away; both refusing to admit what was on their minds. Sakuraba decided that Sena was a closet fan boy, and was rather shy about admitting things like that. Therefore, he shouldn't push the younger boy on the subject. Sena, on the other hand, decided that Sakuraba and Shin must've been talking about something rather odd that Sena didn't want to hear. After all, if it had been a pressing matter, Sakuraba would've pressed it, right?

Sena's eyes drifted over to the game. So far, both teams were scoreless. Deimon, Sena noticed, had great passes and a rather large Center. However, the rest of the team was rather… useless. None of the members could catch, and even if they could, they would quickly lose the ball. However, due to the strong fat Center, the Cupids couldn't advance at all. Then there was the fact that there was not a single person on the bench.

Sena frowned. "They don't have much players, do they?" he asked softly, almost worriedly. _If I hadn__'__t decided to be in Oujou, I__'__d be__…_ He stopped the process of his thoughts. _What am I thinking about? Of course I wouldn__'__t have joined the Football team if it wasn__'__t for Takami-senpai!_

The crowd let out a disappointed groan when another Deimon's amazing pass was fumbled. "Another one?" Sena said. He could've sworn that most football game was more fast-paced, without so much mistakes. But to make sure, he asked the older boy next to him. "Is this how most games are like, Sakuraba-san?"

"Well… usually, there's something to watch, but both Cupids and Devil Bats are small and weak," Sakuraba said.

That must've gotten someone's attention because Sena could swear the blond-haired quarterback's pointy ears twitched. He turned and stared at the two Oujou students with a calculating glance. Sena gulped. _Why do I get a bad feeling about this?_ Then the Quarterback smirked. And Sena knew that he was in for a ride. The blonde popped the balloon gum.

"What do you know, it's Jari-Pro's Sakuraba," he said in a rather loud voice.

Suddenly, as if Sakuraba was lit up with a neon signs, all the females of the game turned and stared at him. Then with almost wolfish glints in their eyes, they all ran as one after Sakuraba. The referee screamed something about inference, but he went ignored as the girls clambered each other for a certain tall Oujou student. Sakuraba visibly paled. "I leave the rest of the film up to you," he said tossing the camera at Sena before running off.

Sena blinked. He looked up and saw the elf-look-a-like smirking at him, as if issuing a challenge. Then the elf turned around, barking orders. But Sena couldn't help but to feel that the quarterback was grasping at straws, trying to make a miracle. Sena brought the camera up, remembering Koharu's words about using it. _I use this button to focus and-_

_Smack!_

Sena watched in horror as the camera fell to the ground, breaking into pieces. He pointed at the camera, his mouth moving but no words coming out. Then he looked up, unsure of what to do now that the camera was as dead as it got. Sena froze when he realized who it was that had run into him.

The person was a Deimon player, there was no question there. After all, the person was wearing a Deimon uniform. The number 29 was written in big bold letters. The player wasn't that taller than Sena, he was just more bulky. But Sena got the sneaking suspicion that if the player wasn't wearing the protection pads; he would be actually about Sena's build. But that wasn't what caught Sena's eyes. It was a certain green-blue eyes that caught Sena's brown ones. There was no doubt about it. There was only one person in the world with that color for eyes.

"R… Riku!!"


	6. I'm Just A Kid

Nyukisan10: YO! Thanks to those who reviewed, review again please! And I'm just glad that We're finally at the SIXTH chapter! Whoot!

Disclaimer: Don't' own, :(

Warning: Contains Hiruma.

Enjoy~

itachisgurl93 : If you can get almost everyone who reviews to agree with you.

Toraus: thanks

Epoch95 : hope it stays like that.

--XXX--

"Sena?" The white haired boy stared in disbelief at the burnet. "What are you doing here?"

"I…um… I'm… spy-scouting!" Sena said and stared at Riku who gave him another disbelief look. "You play American Football?" Sena asked curiously, looking at his number and the padding, before Riku could say anything.

"Yeah! We're in the middle of a match, it's half-time right now," Riku said with a grin obviously very proud of himself, "So," he said, twitching, "I heard from Mamori that _you _didn't go take the test to Deimon." Riku said with a smirk, he paused before continuing, "And went to Oujou… Is it better?" He looked at the uniform Sena was wearing, the look on Sena's face that said, "I'm sorry!", before sighing and continued, "You know, Mamori and I was going to surprise you with me going to Deimon with you, but when I got there, it turns out that you're going to OUJOU!" Riku yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

"I'm sorry Riku!" Sena said while bowing furiously.

Riku sighed, running his hand through his hair, "So, mind telling me why?"

"Um…Well…" Sena stammered, feeling a little guilty that Riku went to the trouble of going to _Deimon _when he could probably do better and go to a different school but he decided to go see him so he went to Deimon, just for him. "…It's because…I… I wanted to show Mamori-neachan that…that…that I could protect myself…" the ending sort of died, but Riku heard it all. He looked up to see Riku crossing his arms, shaking his head and sighing once more, he was going to say something when he was interrupted by the sounds of guns shooting and a distant yell of "FUCKING ALBINO! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!!"

"Oh shit!" Riku turned his head started walking over when he turned back to Sena, "Sorry, Sena, got to go back before Hiruma kills me again with after game laps. Let's talk later, okay?" Riku said as he sprinted back to the field yelling, "I'm not an ALBIBNO!" _Riku has gotten faster than the last time I saw him… I hope we don't go against himanytime soon, I don't think I could win...maybe Shin-san... _Sena thought and stood there in awe with a sad smile. Then, he realized what had happened. _Oh no! The coach is going to kill me and Sakuraba because the camera broke! CRAP, crap, crap, crap!!! _Sena started pacing back-and-forth hands in his hair, and began panicing, with a look that said, "Oh Crap! I'm going to die!" and then while he was panicking, he bumped into someone and fell down on his back, he looked up to apologize and that's when his heart stopped.

He looked up and stared at horror at what he bumped into.

Kazuki Juumonji, and his friends Toganou and Kuroki.

He quickly jumped to his feet and started bowing and an endless stream of apologizes. _I don't want to die yet! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me! I want to live! _Sena thought, already panicking. He was in one of his worst state of panic.

"Huh?"

"Huuuh?"

"HUUUUH?" the three yelled as Sena squeaked.

"Why are you here? Isn't that uniform from Oujou?" Juumonji asked, quite suspicious, and then, Sena realized that they were wearing the uniform for Deimon high school, the same school Riku and Mamori-neechan goes to.

"I'm…I'm…" Sena stammered he knew that the three might kill him if they knew why he was there. _They might not be in the club, but they might be like Ikari-san _Sena thought and shuddered at the thought_, _"I…er…I'm…I'm watching the game!" Sena said, and he should be too remembering that Sakuraba was chased off the field by the fangirls, and his camera died by Riku stepped on it. _Please don't kill me! I want to live! _Was the only thought running in his mind.

"Then why are you over here?" Juumonji asked, motioning to the space from the field to the place they were at the moment.

"Um…I…" Sena had to think fast, when a scream interrupted his train of thoughts, and the four of them snapped their heads to another person who had chains on him.

"HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH AN OUJOU STUDENT!!" Ikari screamed as he rushed to the scene, receiving the three "huh?" from the trio, similar to what they did to Sena. As Juumonji tried to stop Ikari, he was faster than his reflexes. Already trying to beat the crap out of the trio.

"HIE!!" Sena screamed and started bowing and apologizing as he got ignored.

"Wait a minute…" Juumonji said as he blocked and moved out of the way for most of the attacks, "Are you… Prison Chain Ikari?" the scarred boy said in disbelief.

"Huuh?"

"HUUUH?" Toganou and Kuroki exclaimed.

"O-oi! Juumonji, that's not possible." Toganou nudged Juumonji, and Kuroki nodded.

"Ikari-san!" Sena greeted the older male and Ikari turned to him.

"I thought you were going to be MANLIER!" Ikari yelled as Sena flinched. "IF YOU COUNTINUE, THEN YOU'LL BE A DISGRACE TO OUJOU!!" Ikari continued yelling, as Sena winced slightly, _This seems so similar to before… but the intensity never changes… _Sena thought, biting his bottom lip. Meanwhile, with a very fierce face, Ikari turned to the three "And you guys… HOW DARE YOU TRY TO BULLY AN OUJOU STUDENT!!!"

"Huh?" Toganou said.

"Huuh?" Juumonji echoed

"HUUUUUH?" Kuroki yelled. As the four began fighting again.

"Eh?" Sena said in the corner, now forgotten. He blinked, realizing his position, and slowly walked away, this time not getting caught. As he continued walking to the field he looked at the clock, _Great, so in the end, I watched the first quarter, part of the second, missed the third, and it's only nine seconds left. Yeah, coach's going to kill me. _Sena thought when he was something that made his jaw drop.

Someone was running. But this type of running, it was the same as his, if not, faster. _Could it be… RIKU? He's so much faster than before, I wonder if I got any faster too... _Sena thought, it had the same 29 number, when the person made it in the touchdown area, it was the end of the game, 6-3. The person took off the helmet to revile spiky white hair, it was Riku. Riku saw Sena smiled, and then waved. He was going to run to the brunet when someone called him over.

"OI! Fucking ALBINO! COME OVER HERE!" A crazy looking devil yelled to Riku as Riku twitched.

"I'm not an ALBINO!" Riku screamed back as Sena sweat dropped. Riku ran to the huddle and they talked for some minuets before coming back. Riku smirked at Sena and was going to say something when someone else interrupted.

"Riku-kun! Sena?!?!" The two turned to the side to see Mamori rushing in.

"Mamori-neechan!" Sena yelled, quite surprised.

"Mamori!" Riku exclaimed, clearly surprised.

"Sena, why are you here?" Mamori said looking really worried.

"I'm scouting for the next game." Sena said happily then he blinked realizing the what the next game is, his smile drpped. "Oh. The next game is…Oujou vs Deimon…" Sena said. _I don't wnat to go against Riku, I'm going to lose and everyone in Oujou are going to hate me... _Sena thougth negativly.

"I can't wait." Riku said with a grin, "So, you're on the American Football club?" Riku questioned.

"Yeah…" Sena said, rubbing the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

"WHAT!?" Mamori exclaimed, "Sena, you'll get hurt! You should quit immediately." Mamori scolded. "Why don't you join an non-contact sport, or even the Go club?" She suggested, as Riku rolled his eyes as if to say, "Sena isn't a kid. Isn't it time to let him go?"

"Mamori-neechan." Sena said to her, with a small smile, "I went to Oujou so I could prove to you that I can protect myself. I joined the club because they asked and said that they need me. I like American Football. And I'm not planning to quit anytime soon." Sena said, looking directly into her eyes determination covering his eyes, "Besides, if it looks really bad, they won't kill me." Sena said with a reassuringly smile.

"Nicely said." Riku commented before Sena blushed.

"Er… well… I mean…I guess…that's why I joined…I mean…well, I think that...yeah...I mean..." Sena stammered as Riku twitched. _Sena hasn't changed at all… _he thought painfully.

"Since it's been such a long time, how about the three of us go to Kariya and catch up?" Mamori asked, still uncertain about Sena and American football together.

"Sure!" The two boys agreed.

And somewhere in the distant land, Sakuraba was still getting and was still getting attacked, yelling, "Sena! When are we going?!"


	7. The Man Called Coach

Nyukisan10: YO! So how are you guys? Well, bad/sad news, Theif_uchia can **no longer **write this story. Now, I can't guarantee that she'll come back, so I'm not promising, and if you decide that you only read this story because of her, leave now. Also, I'm sorry for the late update, but school started. Ew. (FOOTBALL SEASON!!!) The rest,

ENJOY~~

Warnings: Hiruma. That's all to say.

Disclaimer: I can't own Eyeshield 21. (Isn't it bad enough that we lost one of the authoress?)

Review please!

"Sakuraba! Sena!" The coach roared at the two boys as they flinched, "DO I HAVE TO DO EVERY SINGLE SCOUTING HERE!? SHIN WASN'T THERE AND YOU BROKE YET ANOTHER ONE! Where's the RECORDING!? Sakuraba! Weren't you the one responsible to tape it? Then why didn't you bring anything back!?!"

"Um… You see…I was being chased by the fangirls so…" Sakuraba said, biting his bottom lip. Sena saw that look, it was always the look Sakuraba has when the fangirls came up. _Poor Sakuraba-san… _Sena thought, wondering, _What should I do…_

Without thinking, he said something, something that everyone was surprised at. "I had the camera, but I tripped…" Sena looked uncertain, _Why did I say that? Not the coach is looking at me and everyone else is giving me a look…again! I'm sorry! _"But!" Sena saw some of them raise an eyebrow. _They probably think I'm an idiot, trying to get there hopes up…_Taking a mental deep breath, he finished the thought. "The person from Deimon who made the touchdown, I… saw it…" The ending died, but everyone heard it. Sena was waiting for the coach to yell at him again.

"How fast is it?" the coach asked, glaring at Sena. Sena didn't look up, he continue to look at his feet. He gulped.

"I…"Sena bit his lips, they were tembling, _Please don't kill me _he thought mentally, "I… think don't think I could catch up and exceed it." Sena said, biting his bottom lip down harder.

Everyone's jaw dropped, if Sena could barely catch up, that means that Shin might not be able to catch up at all. Most gasped silently at the thought, the coach twiched, and sighed.

_So, such a person exist that is faster then Sena! How the hell are we going to win? _Shoji sighed, wondering if it really was good that the golden generation left... _Maybe... we'll learn from out loss...but... This is one of our last years. _He thought glumly.

"I…think…" Sena wasn't lying, and wasn't telling the truth. _I don't think I could defeat Riku, not yet... Maybe not ever… but doesn't this mean that I won't need to play? That's good. Besides, I'm sure that Shin-san could catch Riku. I'm sure! _Sena bit his lips; at least he thought that Shin could win against Riku, right? Some people didn't hear, some people did hear, unfortunately for Sena, the coach heard adn sighed. _THat means... Sena might win!_

_He's my fan so… I think I'm supposed to be responsible for his training… _Shin thought carefully _Sena… There isn't a single person that could defeat your speed. For that reason, you must be able to defeat everyone in speed. For that, you're Kobayakawa Sena! _"Coach, I think that is I train Sena, we could win against the person in Deimon." Shin said, staring directly at the coach.

"Very well then, Shin." Shoji nods and turned to Sena, "We're depending on you. Sena." He said, _I hope Shin doesn't kill him with his training. _Shoji thought, _we need him on the team. He could be the wvery one to lead us to victory. _

_Shin…Don't kill someone as fragile as Sena, please. _Takami thought, looking concerned about Sena. _But he has survived through most of it. _Takami stood up, "Good luck, Sena-kun. We're all counting on you." He smiled at the younger boy. _The fate of my last year... all depends on you. What pressure, I hope I don't over do it and cause Sena to hace a depression moment for the rest of his life just because of a touchdown._

"Eh?" Sena said, surprised. _I thought that I wasn't going to play at all… _Sena wasn't expecting this. _I should say something. But…NO! I came to Oujou because I wanted to become stonger, American football might not make me stronger that Riku…But the bullies will stop! _Sena thought determinedly. _I won't lose to anyone in speed…I hope._

_I hope that Shin doesn't kill Sena… but… If Sena could do it… my underclassmen…Then… Shouldn't I be working hard too? _Sakuraba thought, he looked up, determined. _Yes! _

As the coach continued to yell, at both Sakuraba and Sena for breaking yet another video camera, and then he continue to lecture the rest of the team about how the most important thing in American football is defensive.

"Alright then," the coach yelled, "Get into your protective equipment! We are going against Deimon on the seventeenth! Don't take them lightly!"

"YES SIR!"

-Oujou vs Deimon-

"KYA~~!!! Sakuraba-kun!" Flashes of light and screams of girls filled the entire place.

"Is it always like this?" Sena asked Takami.

Takami smiled, "It's only for Sakuraba. They think he's the ace." Sena looked curiously at him.

"I thought that the ace was Shin-san," Sena wondered out loud, and Takami was going to tell him something when he heard someone call him in the distance.

"SENA!!!" Sena jerked his head around to find the Deimon Devilbats, on a strange ride that was being pulled by four people. _I'm sorta glad i'm not in Deimon... _SEna thought, wondering what would have happened if he didn't make it into Oujou.

"Fucking ALBINO! STOP YELLING IN MY FUCKING EAR!!" The crazed blound yelled, with a crazed grin on his face.

"I'm NOT AN ALBINO!" SEna sweatdropped. _I wonder if this is supposed to be normal..._

_---_

So, just to get things better… I had to stop it there…sorry.

So… Please review! Once again, only I, Nyukisan10, will be the only authoress working on the story so cut me some slack, I have school and homework and I might get sick and get lazy and ect….

So… Don't kill Theif_Uchia, but if you decide that you HAVE to complain do it to her, not me…

Another Apology for late update, the most I'll update is two chapters.

Sorry, and thanks.


	8. Breakaway

Hey you guys, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Well, since I'm now working on like… three stories and not quitting one anytime soon, I decided to put up another chapter of Thread. I'll post My Angel sometime soon, so don't worry.

Disclaimer: Sorry to say, I don't own Eyeshield 21.

Warning: Hiruma

* * *

-Shin's POV-

It was a fairly normal game, nice weather, more Sakuraba fans than usual, and such. Except this time, we had Sena. My first fan that I know of. The very fast brown haired boy with the number 21 on his back, he was Oujou's running back, our fastest, Japan's fastest, is now on Oujou White Knights. He's the only one I know that can get a 4.2 in the 40 yard dash. The only one that defeated me in speed. I was very content and I continued walking with Sena and Takami-san when I heard someone call Sena.

I turned to see this white haired boy tackling Sena in a hug. I twitched, I wasn't quite sure why, I'll ask Sakuraba soon, I hope doesn't interrupt the game, and by his uniform, he was from Deimon.

"Riku!" Sena yelped as the Riku kid laughed.

"So, I'm going against you in this round?" Riku asked with a big smile. And Sena nodded.

"Er…I guess so...I mean...I think…" Sena stammered. I wasn't quite sure why I had an urge to step in there and say that Sena would and will win.

"What do you mean by that Sena?" Riku snapped at him and he flinched.

"Ah…hahaha…" Sena said with an odd laugh, not the kind he gives Sakuraba and Takami.

"Sena," he looked quite serious, "I get to see how much you improved. This would be the 98th time I get to go against you, and..."he smirked, "I'm going to go my all." Sena blinked, he was going to say something when another person called us.

"SHIN! SENA!" It was the coach.

"HAI!" Sena was first to answer, as I walked over to the coach I heard Sena say, "See you on the field Riku." I twitched again. Maybe I should go ask Sakuraba.

When we got the uniforms and pads ready, Coach gave the team their last snack, saying stuff about the nutrients. But where was Sena? Oh, there he is, talking with Sakuraba. I was sitting next to Otawara, who looked very content eating.

He asked me, "What's wrong, Shin? Aren't you eating it? You haven't touched it." He commented, pointing at my food that was next to me.

"I'm sorry, but I have already taken the required nutrients in my meal on a regular based meal." I said, "I can't eat anything else." I said, continuing to look at Sena, who wasn't eating, I think, like me, he has already ate the nutrients in his meal. But with a small body like that, he should eat more meat.

Some news people took Sakuraba, who was laughing with Sena. And then, I stood to sit with Sena. He looked at me and he gave me a small smile. I nodded.

"OH! So they came." Otawara said standing up to his full height, fist on his hips, Sena looked away from him.

"Pull up your boxers." The coach twitched. I inwardly sighed, someday, Otawara would understand.

"Who are they?" Sena asked me. Not surprising that Sena didn't know, he's pretty new.

"Shinryuuji Nagas." I said. Remembering the last time we went against them we lost. "They were the people who always won the Christmas Bowl. Even the golden generation lost to them." I stared hard at a specific person with specific dreadlocks.

"Shin-san?" I heard Sena say. But I will defeat Kongo Agon. I will show him how much I really improved. I turned my head, the game was starting, and in our huddle, Otawara was saying what he always say before a game.

"We pledge victory on out knights pride." He said, "We did not come here to fight our enemy," he has a giant grin on his face, "We came to beat them!" he finished quite proudly.

"GLORY ON THE KINGDOM!" we shouted.

"WE WILL KILL THEM! YA-HA!" I heard them scream and Sena flinched.

Deimon's offence, Oujou's defense.

Hiruma, the only quarterback in Deimon caught the ball and I easily tackled him to the ground. On the sidelines, I hear people screaming, "SAKURABA-KUN!" Really. Fangirls these days…I wonder if Sena saw that. I wonder if he's cheering for me too, like what the girls do to Sakuraba. I got into position for the next play as I saw the 29 put on his helmet on as he walked onto the field.

"Set. Hut. HUT!" He yelled, and he passed it to him. He has to be the one that made that touchdown for Deimon. He has to be. He won't get past me, at least with that speed. There's no way. As he ran at me, trying to avoid me, I caught him easy and he fell onto the ground, ending the play. I didn't get it, why did Sena lie to me? I intercepted the ball and made a touchdown, and we switched offense and defense. If Sena was surprised that I got a touchdown, I can't wait to see his face when we win. As they switched, I sat down next to Sena. Coach didn't want to put him in yet.

This one surprised me, number 29 from Deimon had intercepted Sakuraba's pass. I knew that Sakuraba couldn't catch good, but his height is what made him get to that position.

They continued like that for the next quarters. Otawara was getting a bit busy with Kurta, and I was wasting time with Riku. Why did Sena say that he might not be able to get him when I caught up easily? I didn't get this. I should ask Sakuraba. Speaking of Sena, he was still on the bench, I wanted him to play. Together, we will make the best tag-team possible. No one would be able to get past us. I was sure about this. And I kept telling myself that. I wouldn't let Riku get past me, because my defense is absolute. In American football, the most important thing is defense, I will make sure that Sena would be the best offense as I am a defense.

Half-time. I walked up to Sakuraba, who had his head in his hands, and Sena was with Kohane giving out water, so I asked him

"Sakuraba." He looked up at me, "Do your fans ever lie to you?" I asked and he looked at me weird. But he looked thoughtful before answering.

"Yeah." Sakuraba nodded, as if remembering all the times they did.

"Why do they?" Well, it looks like I'll get an answer to my problem. That's good, I might be able to have a better focus on the game.

"It's usually because they want to date me or marry me or something. Why Shin?" he tilted his water to drink more. I blinked.

"Sena wants to go out with me?" I questioned, and then Sakuraba shot all the water out of mouth sputtering.

"WHAT?!" he yelled, "Why? How did you get that solution?" He looked at me in disbelief and I nodded.

"He lied to me." I concluded. He sighed.

"What? About what? I never knew Sena could lie." Sakuraba muttered the last part, and I choose to ignore it.

"He said that Deimon's running back, that he might not be able to stop him, but if I could catch him, so could he, right?" I stared at Sakuraba, who blinked and then sighed.

"Shin, he was probably exaggerating, also, he said _might_." I nodded, Sakuraba was right, Sena didn't sound certain. He does tend to underestimate him self. "Besides Shin," I looked back at Sakuraba, "I don't think Sena likes anyone yet." He smiled softly and I nodded. Now I can refocus on the game like usual.

"Thank you Sakuraba." He nodded and I walked towards the coach, I wanted him to put in Sena.

"Alright! I'm changing the line a little, Mayumura! Sit on the bench, let Sena see what the field is like." I had a rush of a warm feeling, to smile, but I fought it. There is no way that I'll let myself look happy when Hiruma's nearby, at least playing against him. It was our offense and Deimon's defense, so that means that I'm watching. The girls in the stands went wild as Sakuraba stood up, and I saw Sena flinch. He'll probably get used to it one day. As they made there way on the field, they started the play. Takami hasn't let Sena touch the ball yet. So he passed to Sakuraba, who caught most of them. Little by little, they were getting more yards. And then, 19 yards left. With this distance, Sena would fly past them all with no sweat.

"SET! HUT! HUT!" Takimi called as the ball was snapped to him, he caught it and he passed it to Sena. Sena ran passed them all except for Riku, as they ran against each other, I already knew who won.

I was wrong.

There was a fumble, Otawara caught the ball so we were still on offense... But Sena lost. I was surprised, I never thought that Kobayakawa Sena would lose to someone like Riku. I personally trained him so he could keep his 4.2 for 2.5 games. And his running, was filled with fear again. What made RIku so scary? I saw Sakuraba and Takami trying to soothe him, and he just smiled sadly at him. He looked back at Riku who was talking with him.

"You're pathetic Sena," I could hear faintly but I heard it, "Our speed is evenly matched. Do you know the difference between us?" What was he doing? Provoking him? This didn't look good, I tried to turn my attention away, and look at the field, but I still heard it all.

"Our height?" Sena said, cocking his head to the side, I mentally sighed, and I heard Riku sigh too.

"No. It's out pride." he halfway glared at Sena. "Sena, when you were being tackled, you instantly protected your body, that's an accomplishment itself but…" I didn't get it. What was his goal? " 'I won't lose to anybody' Someone with that kind of pride, instantly sacrifices his body for the ball." Why was he helping him? I didn't get it. Didn't Riku want Deimon to win? Even though it's not going to happen, but still...And I don't get how Sena lost to Riku. Isn't this the same Sena as the one who defeated me? His running was full of _fear. _Just what happened Sena? "Sena, this was our 99th battle, and I won again." I felt another wave hit my stomach; it was a wave that made me unhappy. My head snapped over to him, but I took control. I didn't want us to forfeit because of me stomping over there and tackling Riku on the spot.

"SET! HUT! HUT!" Again, Takami passed the ball to Sena, and this time, Sena won. I felt proud, Sena had gotten his first touchdown in his first game, that wasn't surprising, but nonetheless, I was proud. Like usual, we got out kick in and we were changing from offense to defense and coach put Sena in defense. That means that the tag-team would be around now.

"SET! HUT! HUT!" Hiruma called it, Riku got it and I was a bit farther back than before. I stretched out my hand, spear tackling Riku.

Or so I thought.

It happened so fast. I didn't realize what happened until he was on the ground, motionless. That feeling I've never felt rushed in my stomach. I never realized what it was. I couldn't move. All that happened is that scene kept paying in my head. What's wrong with me? Continuously. This never happened. It played in slow motion and in continued like that. I tried to gulp down this lump in my throat. I was trembling. Is this how it feels? It hurts so much. It will go away, right?

I was removed from the rest of the game because I wasn't strong enough. I've never experienced this pain before. It hurts, this wasn't the pain that would go away, but the more I thought of it…The more it hurt and it grew bigger. I wasn't crying, I never cried before. I wonder if this is how it goes.

I should have trusted him to take him down. Why didn't I? He defeated him, and if he does manage to pass, I would have caught up in no time.

I knew it. My team knew it. Everyone watching knew it.

Shin Seijuro had sent his own player, a rookie, Kobayakawa Sena, to the hospital.


	9. The Man That Can't Run

Hey you guys! What's up and all?

Thanks for the reviews, you should review again, and tell me what you guys want in the story. I'll see what I like and such. So then, I'm finally on chapter nine! YAY! Did I tell you how much I hated the anime? One more thing, while I was making the chapter, the song that was stuck in my head this time was White Horse by Taylor Swift, and Absolutely (story of a girl) by nine days.

Disclaimer: Don't' own Eyeshield 21

Warning: Hiruma and Agon. Bad grammer and such you know, the usual.

Enjoy and review~~

Lilbakasaru- Do you really? That's quite interesting

itachisgurl93- This chapter explains it so don't worry!

akuma-river- Do you really think that? Well, don't worry, it explains that too.

Toraus - Yeah, but I had to put _someone _in the hospital. And why not torture Shin as well?

-No POV-

The entire Oujou White Knight team gathered at the door number 21. Sena's number. How ironic. The newest addition to the family was in the hospital, already. No one planned it. No one saw it coming, especially with _him._ It just happened.

Who knew that Shin Seijuro would have 'accidentally' tackle Kobayakawa Sena, who sacrificed his shoulder, just so he could take down Deimon's ace running back Kaitani Riku? Well, he got back up, but Sena didn't. It was in all the sports area in the newspapers and such. Saying that Shin himself didn't know what happened, saying that Shin couldn't trust his own players, and saying about how if it was _Sakuraba _who was playing and took Shin's place,nothing would have happened. Oujou still won though, like everyone predicted, at the cost of two players. One was in the hospital and the other one was feeling guilt for the first time. Who knew Shin would be so clueless about this stuff? It was weird, how Shin would still practice like normal, and train even harder, always muttering, "Sena…" under his breath. Then, he thought of Sena, and all the guilt came rushing back and he would train his body to the max. "I'll protect you…Sena…" he would always said, always thinking about the small running back. They remembered the latest game against the Sengoku Punks, 7-6 they barely won. And then before that, was the Seibu game. They knew that if Sena was okay they would have won more than at the game with Deimon, Seibu, and destroy the Punks.

So there they were, walking in as they saw Sena who was smiling. And it stung, just a little, but it stung. This was the first the entire team, minus Sakuraba who had special access, they got to see Sena. Sakuraba got a recording of the latest games and let Sena watch them, quite happily, too. They had small smiles, glad to see that the poor boy was still happy. "S-so, how was the game? Sa…S-Sakuraba-san hasn't given me the v-video to watch it. W-What happened? I-I-I Her..her-heard th-that y-you guys won 7-6," Sena looked at them concerned as Otawara laughed.

"If you were there, we would have won 100-0!" he exclaimed happily slapping Sena on the back, oddly gentle. Sena laughed partially and then saw Shin. He smiled brightly.

"Shin-san!" Sena physically straightened up and smiled proudly at Shin, who didn't meet his eyes. _He saw the games…Against both Seibu and Sengoku, the ones where I played horribly. I should've… _Shin twitched at the thought. _God damnit… Why can't I play well now since I actually have a fan? No, instead, I had to put in the hospital… And he still respects me!_

_This feeling… _Takami was surprised at the sudden change in Shin's atmosphere. _It's the same one as the one after those games when I told Shin that Sena saw the game. The game with Seibu…Could it be…Nah, no way _Takami turned his attention away from Shin and focused on Sena, still feeling the atmosphere.

"Sena." Sena looked discourage as Shin just left the room, he looked at the coach. "Get well soon, we need you for the next game." Sena replied with a smile and nod. So, slowly, everyone left. All except Sakuraba, who was in a chair next to Sena and his bed.

"Sena?" Sakuraba looked curiously at Sena. Completely oblivious to the fact that Shin was going to walk in and heard everything they said along with the two Deimon members that were right behind Shin. "Sena, if this is about the money, I already told you. I'll pay." Sakuraba soothed, or at least tempted to.

"Sakuraba-sempai….I-I'm sorry…"Sena's eyes were downcast, "Being a burden to you and such…" _I bet that I'm the poorest kid ever. _Sena thought glumly.

_If Sena needs money, he could just ask me… _Riku thought bitterly.

"It's fine Sena," Sakuraba lightly comforted the smaller boy, "I have a job, remember?" he smiled lightly. _A job…Maybe…Maybe I should too… _Sena thought with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Shin!" Sena's head shot up just in time to meet Shin's eyes. Unreadable. "Sorry, I'll wait for you outside." Sakuraba walked off and Shin stepped into the room, taking Sakuraba's spot on the chair.

"I'm sorry." Sena said, not making any eye-contact with Shin, who just stared at him. _This is the first time he comes to visit me and that's all I could say. Great. Shin-san probably hates me for getting in his way during the Deimon vs. Oujou game. Why did I jump in like that? Idiot! _"I…I sh-shouldn't have ran in like that. I'm really sorry! I…I…" Sena won't cry if front of someone as great as Shin. Well, Shin was missing _training _just to see Sena. This was an honor.

"…I'm sorry for putting you in the hospital, Sena." Shin said, got up and tried to leave. Sena looked at him, and then at the empty chair.

"Shin-san!" Shin looked surprised, but didn't turn back, he couldn't. "Next time…I-I'll become faster…and when I do…I-I will make you proud. There won't be a single person in the world that could defeat me…in-including you…Shin-san." Sena smiled broadly but it disappeared when Shin left without saying a word. _You aren't going to be the only one improving; I too will not lose, from now to the end. Especially to you. _Shin thought, and when he saw Sakuraba, Sakuraba read his eyes and nodded with a small smile

Sakuraba walked back in and sat in the same seat again, "Are you okay? Shin said he was going to go train some more," he looked at Sena's face, he was smiling, but his eyes weren't. _Poor Sena… _Sakuraba thought. _What the hell am I doing? _They both thought. _I should be training…instead of being in this…this confined hospital…_Sena sighed at the thought. _At this rate, I'm going to be left behind._ And then, the door slammed open and two reporters stormed in. Behind, was long forgotten Riku and Monta.

"SAKURABA!" The lady yelled and Sakuraba's face twitched, "I heard that you were coming to the hospital!" she turned to Sena, "You're very lucky to have the trump card come and support you! Especially when your own teammate came to tackle you! You should…" The lady was rudely cut off at the curtain dividing the room ripped open.

"BE QUIET!!!" A small boy screamed at the reporters and everyone in the room except the boy flinched, "DIDN'T ANYONE TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE QUIET IN THE HOSPITAL?!?! I ALMOST FELL ASLEEP BEFORE YOU STORMED IN! NOW GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he though many items at them as the reporter and cameraman were chased away. Riku and Monta (Raimon Taro, but it's not like anyone remembers that) looked quite amused as Sena, Sakuraba, and the boy started a small conversation, completely oblivious to the fact that they walked in.

"Sorry. Did I awake you?" immediately, Sakuraba and Sena apologized "Sakuraba-sempai, how was the game? I didn't…" Sena was interrupted as the boy smiled brightly and started yelling, again.

"YOU'RE SAKURABA? _THE_ SAKURABA HARUTO? I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT! AUTOGRAPH! I NEED AN AUTOGHRAPH!" He yelled as he rummaged through his bad, muttering, "Autograph" as Sakuraba passed him a CD.

"Here." He handed him a CD. An autographed CD.

"What? Do you think I'm an _idiot _or something? Are you trying to _insult_ me?" Sakuraba stared at him, confused, "Even thought I saw it only once, I didn't think that it was possible to catch the ball like that. I've always remembered you're name." The boy said proudly, giving Sakuraba a football and marker, "Oujou White Knights receiver, Sakuraba Haruto. You're my hero." Monta nodded, Sakuraba _was _his hero too. Riku turned to Sena and gave him some fruit.

"Sena?" Riku questioned and Sena just smiled lightly at the white haired boy and he blinked, but returned the smile.

"Could you please add, "To Torakichi"?" Sakuraba signed the football and gave it back. The boy took it with both arms and hugged it really tight.

"So, you play American Football?" Sakuraba asked as Sena, Monta, and Riku were completely ignored. Riku wanted to start a conversation with Sena, but he kept his silence. And Monta…For him, this was story time.

"I want to play, but there is no American Football in elementary school, so I play touch football," he said with a happy grin. _Touch football, football that doesn't' hurt. How lucky… _Sena sighed, rubbing the spot where Shin has practiced many, _many_, spear tackles on him. "When our game was finished, I caught the last glimpse of the Oujou game, and that's when I saw it. I thought it was amazing back then…no…Even bigger! I may be a shorty, but….I'll get taller…and when I do…It'll be me that could catch all those passes…All of them!" Torakichi smiled brightly as Sakuraba looked away and said it. The blunt truth that only Sena knew.

"That catch… was merely a coincidence." Monta just stared at Sakuraba, jaws dropped. Sena bit his lips, and _Thought so. I was wondering why he was on the team for catches I could've caught. _Riku thought. "Other people always do what they like and turned me into a hero. You guys have no idea what kind of pressure this is…People expecting so much…All lies…And when I fail…They're disappointed, completely." Sakuraba finished and Monta exploded. Riku tried to shut him up, but it didn't work out so well.

"How could you say that?!" he screamed and Sakuraba locked eyes with him. Pure hatred and the blunt truth. "How could you say that to your own fan? FUCK! I thought you were a great person. But I was blinded! Instead, there is this lame-o-receiver!" and Monta kept repeating it as Torakichi was desperately trying to shut him off.

He tried throwing anything and everything. Including the football Sakuraba recently signed. "AH!" he screamed as he realized what he had thrown.

"Careful there. This is your…precious treasure, right?" Monta lightly threw it back, and it hit a person. A nurse. Nurse Ota.

"AH!!!" Monta and Riku yelled in surprise and because they were frightened, they ran for it. _Shit! I didn't get to tell Sena anything! _Riku thought and mentally cursed. _I'll come back later, I know the room number anyways, room 421!_

Sena lightly chuckled as the conversation continued, "You suck. And you're annual records prove it." Torakichi commented and Sakuraba twitched. "But! Lemme say something, this won't change the fact that Sakuraba Haruto is my hero." Sakuraba glanced at him, a small smile growing on his face. "That one catch…was amazing…I don't care how bad you are," he grinned broadly as they were brought some food, it was lunch time. As Sena and Torakichi fought with their green peppers, Sakuraba bought and ate lunch, they patiently waited, so they started another conversation.

"We're having a match next month. I finally made it to the first string…Ouch!" Torakichi grabbed his leg.

"Are you okay?" was the immediate response from Sena.

"Yeah. All this for a stupid car crash…" he smirked, too bad that smirk disappeared as soon as the doctor and nurse Ota came in. While they closed the curtains, Sakuraba walked over with a questioning look, but didn't say anything.

"B….But…I have a game next month!!" He exclaimed, tears forming. Sakuraba and Sena blinked, a depressing look on their face.

"I'm sorry, but…for you to be able to walk again, will at least take one or two years." The doctor said sadly as Torakichi cried.

---

Later, Torakichi began talking, "…My teacher…said I could come out from being a reserve player if I would practice a bit harder for six more years, I could be a regular. She didn't' lie. Instead, this happened. Why? I've practiced so hard for the past six years! Why did I have to lose it?" Torakichi began crying again and Sakuraba walked over to him. Sena hoped that the older male wouldn't do anything to hurt the boy anymore than now.

"I've made up my mind;" Sena looked at Sakuraba, "That catch you saw…I'll make sure that that won't be a coincidence anymore. I'll practice really hard," _That means…Sakuraba could become the ace! That means…I'll be the only one lacking the practice. God! Why can't I practice to? _"During that period, are you going to be crying?" And then, Sakuraba left, saying a good-bye to Sena, Sena returned it.

"…Torakichi-kun…" Sena started a small smile on his face, "I'm falling behind aren't I? While the team is practicing and training," _Especially Shin-san…_ "I am here in the hospital, resting." Sena smiled sadly, not seeing Shin walk back in with his jogging hood back on. "When I'm back out…I'll make it so that _nothing _could touch my speed, so that way…Shin-san won't have to worry about me. That way… I won't disappoint him or anyone else."

"Sena…"Sena's head shot up and looked over to the door to see if someone called him.

There was no one there.

_I thought that was Shin-san' s voice… _Sena thought, but laid back and gave in to the much needed sleep. _When I wake-up, I'll go play the video. _He thought and fell asleep. _Shin-san… _


	10. Untitled

Thread, YAY!

Well it's been awhile, I've decided to update at least every other week. And I woul d absolutely love it if you guys would review a bit more. I have the idea's down, but I need a reason to write/type.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Warning: Hiruma/Agon, some angst, and the usual.

Lilbakasaru - please, describe what you mean....

akuma-river - You have to remember what kind of player Shin is. Also, you have to remember that Deimon is filled with voluntarily people. Another thing is if Shin killed Sena, would Riku be able to play (in what you said, function) too?

green-road- despite the size of this one chapter, I'll update the next chapter soon, don't worry, you shouldn't worry, this chapter will answer your curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Enjoy and review`~~

* * *

-(Shin's POV)-

As Sena finished watching the latest Oujou game with Torakichi, Sena's roommate, I heard from Sakuraba what happened to him. Riku, the number 29 and has an odd relationship with Sena, walked in. "Sena, I'm sorry about the game." Riku started as he sat down next to his proclaimed 'younger brother'. I was going to walk in, but I decided to wait, the next thing Sena said made me freeze.

"Riku! I'm sorry… You told me that…and…I…I'm…I'm s-sorry!" Sena blurted out.

"So…Sena, spill it. Why are you playing American football? We have a lot to catch up on." Riku said with a smug look on his face, the door was part opened and I could see and hear everything.

"Well…I knew that I won't be lie you Riku, and I don't understand how to play…and I don't have any will power…" I saw Riku twitch, and I felt a little disappointed. "And Riku-kun taught me everything to run away…but… I met Takami-sempai…and he… If it wasn't for him…I'm not sure if I'll be in Oujou…" That surprised the two of us, "I only wanted to run away…To be at the sidelines and cheer and help from there…" I turned on my heel to leave. When the feeling that almost ate my appetite left, I had decided to come here. To visit Sena once more before running back to Oujou, and here I was. Eavesdropping. I didn't want to hear this. "But! The other day…my first game…against Riku and Shin-san and Takami-sempai, and Otawara-sempai… Um… How should I say this… A-American F-football… was enjoyable." I didn't see his expression, but I knew that he was smiling. It caught me off guard, have I ever felt that way? The way that Sena felt. I want Sena to keep that feeling with him forever. _What the fuck are you guys doing? _I remembered how the coach treated me, ever since I first came. I didn't mind, no one wanted me on the team. And then, Sena came. He changed that. _The golden age has ended, we must keep up with our title. We were once kings. We must continue as kings. Defeat will never be forgiven. _I want Sena to continue feeling that, to never feel at a complete loss. Never. Have I ever felt like that? Enjoying American football?

… I left to go back to the dorms, I need to catch up, Sena's waiting for me. And this time… We will win. Both of us, together.


	11. The Man That Saved His Bullies

This is the real chapter 11, the one before, while I was typing it, I figured it would serve best as that so… Don't kill me?

Disclaimer: Don't own

Warning: The usual

Enjoy and Review please~~

* * *

(No POV)

When Sena was released from the hospital, three days after the entire team visited, the first thing he did was roam around the city. He never really had looked around, and the last time he did, he found Ikari. Speaking of the chain man, he has yet to see him. _I wonder if that's a good thing… _Sena thought. And he aimlessly walked when he saw a cafe.

It was a big café, and a café that had a"**HELP WANTED**" sign on it. Sena walked straight on the red carpet that led to a desk. It was a shiny wooden desk. On his left, was a bunch of chairs and tables and the right mirrored it. Sena couldn't see it perfectly at the angle he was at, but the café was almost a giant square and the chairs and tables were like a shield around the desk other than the red carpet. The walls were glass, as if see through, but it was more like the sunglasses-type lens. You couldn't see the outside, but you can see the inside, and the other side was vise-versa. The rest of the floor was a polished hard wood; Sena looked up and saw someone smile at him.

"Wait…Aren't you that Oujou kid in the Oujou vs Deimon game? Number 21?" Sena blinked but nodded. The female squealed. "Oh my god! I'm such a fan of you! What can I do to help you?" She looked American, dirty blonde hair, came down to her lower back, but it was tied in a low pony-tail. She smiled broadly at Sena. Her blue baby blue eyes sparkled as she gazed at Sena. He laughed uncomfortably.

"I'm looking for a job…" The café was empty, but Sena still spoke softly, and the blond nodded. She smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, but if you want a job here, you have to be a waitress." Sena blinked. "Anyways, I'm J. Nice to meet you." Sena blinked agian but nodded and shook J's hand. "So… You'll do it?" She asked hopefully and Sena sighed, but nodded. "Come." She led him to the back room and turned the 'closed' sign on the front door.

J explained what a waitress is, and what he was supposed to do and such as she grabbed a uniform and gave it to Sena. Sena nodded and swallowed everything. He now knew the basics and such. "There you go. Try it on. I hope your a small. When you finish, come out, I want to see it." She skipped out and Sena sighed when he saw the uniform.

It was a satin black uniform. A satin black French maid uniform. He twitched. The café may be part English, but… With a sigh, he changed into it. He needed a job, and it's not like anyone would recognize him, right?

He walked back to the front, and noticed that there were suddenly, many more people. As in, twenty more people who looked at him and blushed or grinned or whistled. J giggled when she saw him.

"It looks nice on you." She commented and Sena fidgeted around his uniform. "Don't worry, to keep your identity safe, you're name when you're here will be…" She thought carefully and looked around before saying, "K." Sena blinked and nodded. It was an English letter, if his boss's name is J, why not K? She pushed him to a table, "Go and show off!" She whispered as he stumbled into his first table. _I hate high heels. _He thought, uncomfortable with the new feeling.

Sena remembered all of the waitress's ways. _Start with a smile, _he thought, showing his best smile to his customers. Both of them were extremely tall. One of them had crazy, spiky blond hair and smirked at Sena. A black haired male with dark blue eyes blushed at little when he saw Sena, and looked away. Down at his menu. _Why is it really breezy? Nevermind that, I should ask them what they want and such…_Sena twitched, but didn't show it. _Is this skirt to short? _Indeed, it was a skirt that came to the middle of his thighs. He was lucky that he was small, who knew if his boxers would show? He kept both of his knees tightly together, like taught.

"How may I help you today?" Sena asked as kindly as possible, he was surprised that his voice would go that high, too.

"Oh?" One of the boys gave him a one-over and grinned, "So, we're the regulars here. And I see that you're new here." Shit, was Sena already figured out? _Please don't recognize me! _Sena inwardly screamed, but kept his smile. Lucky, it wasn't painful. "Well, I'm Mizumatchi Kengo." The blond introduced himself, his smirk never leaving his face. He pointed at the male, that was still blushing and looking away, who sat in across from him, "That's Kakei Shun." Sena nodded.

Kakei looked really broad, and so did Mizumatchi, _I wonder if they play any sports… They might be some good receivers…_ Sena thought to himself. Remembering what Takami said about tall receivers.

"I'm K." He said, quite satisfied with himself. _I wonder if because of this, I'll become a better liar..._ He already practiced this, even though it's only the first time. "Nice to meet you." He bowed politely and Mizumatchi laughed.

"I... want… some coffee," Kakei muttered and Sena wrote it down. _One more thing, write down the orders so we could keep track of all of them! _He heard the back of his head yelling.

"Then… me too!" Mizumatchi said, smiling wider. Sena wrote that down to and trotted away to J. Giving him the orders, she smiled broadly and mouthed a 'Thank You' to Mizumatchi, who just nodded and shifted attention to Kakei.

"Wow!" Mizumatchi wolf-whistled and Kakei blushed harder. "Aw… Is Kakei-chan embarrassed?" He teased and Kakei twitched.

"Shut up." He snarled.

* * *

Couple minutes later, Sena was rushing from one place to another, giving and taking. And everyone was gossiping about the new waitress at this one café…And news travel fast.

"Hey, do you think she has a boyfriend?"

"I hope not. I want her."

"Are you over-worked?" J asked, worried and Sena smiled back.

"I'm just getting started." He grinned as he took the next set of orders and rushed back to grab the next plate. _Lets use my speed for something this time…For others! Mamori-neechan will be proud! She always yelled at me for doing another's bidding, but this time… It's a good cause!

* * *

_

When the café closed at 7, Sena collapsed on a chair, gasping for his breath.

"So, I'll come…Wh...whenever practice is finished…and…and I'll… stay until…Everyone leaves…" he gasped and stammered at J, who stared at him, worried.

"If you can't make it…" She took Sena's phone and added herself. "Call and say so. My brother is the other waiter, and he'll take over for you. I'll make sure you guys meet. His name is X." She said and Sena nodded. _This guy isn't the type to give up, so…_

"Okay." Sena said and stood up, "Thank you very much." He smoothly walked out of the café and walked back to Oujou High. He took his time walking, he was pretty tired.

Sena was in black shorts and a white t-shirt that said, "Oujou White Knights" in blue. He walked to Oujou High, taking deep breathes and lots of time. It was still part daylight, the sun was setting. He was smiling, it had been awhile since he smelled fresh air. Then, Sena saw a couple of huge people sticking out of an ally. They looked as if they were from Taiyou. He gasped as he saw a familiar white-haired male with a scar on his face.

The Taiyou man was going to throw him against a wall. Sena bit his lips.

--

Juumonji heard someone gasp when he felt someone hold him. He was about to get slammed against the wall by the Taiyou Sphinx guy. He fell on someone's lap and groaned. He looked up and blinked. He barely remembered it, but he knew the brown spiky hair with the chocolate chibi eyes anywhere. He was wearing the Oujou White Knights t-shirt with some pants, but he was sure of it. _He… what? Why? _Was his only thoughts.

It was Kobayakawa Sena. The small boy that he used to bully. Holy shit!

"You… You shouldn't go around beating people up!" Sena stammered at Banba, and Harao, "P-pick on someone your own size!" He gasped and bit his lips. He was still stuttering, and Juumonji sweat-dropped, _Why? _He thought. _Of all the people, why Sena? Someone I used to bully? _He sighed.

"Hee! Hee! HEE!" One of the Taiyou guy laughed, the one with a watermelon head, "Just who do you think we are?" He growled. "We are the Taiyou Sphinx! The ones that will win against Deimon and the American Team! The strongest line ever!" He bragged, and Sena ignored him completely.

"Juumonji-san?" His attention was on Juumonji, Kuroki, and Toganou, and them only, "Are you guys okay?" He asked, focusing only on the three. He lightly touched their wounds and helped them get back on their feet. It failed miserably. Banba raised an eyebrow; no one in the right mind would ever challenge them like that. This was the first. _Especially when we already defeated the ones stronger than him… _He thought.

"You…" Banba said in amusement, "Have a lot of courage, don't you?" He asked and Sena turned his attention back to him, meeting him directly with his eyes. _He's not away, rather… He's keeping the same level as me. _Banba thought surprised. _This guy must really like those flies, his eyes are coated in fear, not only that, he is shaking too... but he won't back down or away. He won't even let me look down on me. This guy… _Banba looked at his shirt and what it said._ He's from Oujou? _Banba was surprised. _Why was someone from Oujou caring about someone from Deimon? Do they have some sort of relationship? No, looking at the three's eyes, they are surprised and they look…disgraced?…_

"What's your name?" He asked Sena.

"Eh?" Sena pointed at himself and Banba nodded. "Umm… My name is Ko…Kobayakawa…" Banba nodded, but before he could say what Banba wanted to hear, two people ran in.

"Sena!" The model, Sakuraba Haruto, famously known as the Oujou White Knight's ace, and another male that ran with him into the scene. It took Banba awhile, but he remembered him.

Shin Seijuro, the true ace of the Oujou White Knights, number 40, position: linebacker.

Sakuraba automatically turned to Sena and helped him. Sena explained the situation and Sakuraba nodded, understanding everything. He told him that he wasn't hurt and such. However, Sena hadn't told him about the waitress though. Shin's eyes never left Banba though. _I can trust Sakuraba with Sena. Right? _Shin thought, uncertain.

"You do know that if you hurt a player outside of a match, and you guys get caught, you could get disqualified from the fall tournament." Shin stated, quite curious about the fact that they should have known.

"… Those flies can't call themselves linemen." Banba said and Sena's attention snapped to him, "but that kid… Kobayakawa, was it? What's his" he never got to finish due to an outburst no one expected, not even Sena.

"That's not right!" Sena yelled, and then realized his voice and started apologizing and bowing before stammering to his next couple of sentences, "Well…They haven't fully matured yet as football players…And…And I think that…That maybe…When they mature, or when they go against you… They will win!" Juumonji, Toganou, and Kuroki stared at him in disbelief. Did they hear right? Or was Sena losing his mind?

"I think…Because…Because…They promised to meet us in the Christmas Bowl! They…" Sena blushed a little. "Well…I mean…" Sena looked directly in Banba's eyes, determination flowing in it, ready to explode, "I was told that the line's the cruelest position. That they are the mighty warriors that transformed into walls just to protect their teammates." He bit his lips, he was trembling harder, "They don't touch the ball." Shin and Sakuraba stared at him in disbelief, "They aren't the ones who run the path to victory, rather..." He completely forgot who was listening, he was only focused of Banba, "But they are the ones who open the path to victory." Sena smiled softly, "They haven't ran away, they won't run away. I believe in them." He smiled nervously.

_I wonder if Sena ever thought of our team… or me… like that… _Shin wondered. _I wonder if we even touch his expectations… Or if he has any for us._

"I'll take your word then. I'll be waiting for you guys. I know that Kurita is good, but you guys… After what Kobayakawa said…You guys better reach my expectations." Banba stated and walked out of the ally, the other two following.

"Sena." Sena said, and Banba turned back at him, "My name is Kobayakawa Sena. Those are Juumonji Kazuki, Kuroki Koji, and Toganou Shozo. Remember that." Sena said and Banba smirked.

"I will." He answered.

* * *

(Later at Deimon)

"Th-That was really cool." Toganou said as they walked right into the weight room, and they killed their score. It was now 85kg. (Around 187lbs)

"I…I'll defeat them properly… I mean… He's waiting for us, right?" Kuroki asked as the three of them sat down in the grass.

"We'll win. We will win. For the sake of…" Juumonji didn't need to finish the sentence. All three of them knew that if it wasn't for Sena, that they would be trash and continue like that. He wouldn't allow it, especially when there is his father. _Thank you…Sena… I'm sorry… _He bit his lips and tried to think of the last time he talked to him, other than that time. _That's right, during the Oujou vs Deimon game; he was there, as a player… _

"WE WILL KILL THEM!" The three screamed in their heads and resumed training. _We aren't going to back down. We were protected by someone we used to bully, it's our turn to help him, by proving that we aren't what that guy thinks! _

(Oujou)

"Welcome back SENA!!" The team cheered as Sena walked in with a smile. The coach nodded to him before leaving, Wakana hugged him and the team laughed.

"Glad to be back." Sena reassured and Otawara began slapping him on the back, Sena falling over after each one.

"Otawara!" Takami scolded, "Sena just got out of the hospital, don't make him go back in!" He said, is a joking manner. The team was in a good mood. All except Shin and Sakuraba, who were in the corner, thinking.

Sakuraba gave the occasional smile and laugh, but Shin didn't do anything. Sena noticed and felt a weight collapse on him. _Did I do something wrong? I need to train harder, that's it. I've been cutting practice this entire time… I need to make sure that nothing can exceed me! YES! I made a promise to Juumonji, Toganou, Kuroki, Banba, Takami, Sakuraba, Riku, Mamori-neechan, and Shin-san! _Sena thought. But he relaxed, _Lets work hard starting tomorrow! _He encouraged himself. _Shin-san… Don't worry, I'll do my best, and I will make it to the top!_

At least, that's what he hoped.


	12. Can You Meet Me Halfway

Chapter 12!! Man that took awhile! Well then, thank you for staying with me all this time! But, it feels as though there is only one of you with me, it feels so different because there isn't enough reviews to make me really, really happy. Makes me sad. (I would like at least five more reviews…Or am I being too selfish?) It's not balanced, I write these stories because I want to see if anyone likes them, but no one (other than a select few) will actually tell me if it's good or not, and their opinions.

wiiTneSs – Tee hee! Well, I understand what you mean. It's hard to get tired of something like that… Especially when you could play with the other people's reactions…

green-road- I'm an authoress, don't expect to sue me for those broken windows. I'm not paying. Well, but I know what you meant by what I did to Sena. It's so much fun. I can't wait to write more about it…

Warnings: The usual, I'm too lazy to retype it up. Have I mentioned spoilers for the Taiyou game?

Disclaimer: I don't' care what the media says, I don't own it!

Enjoy and review~~

※

When the exhausting Taiyou vs Deimon game ended as a tie. However, it seemed that Taiyou gave Deimon the game for the American team. And all of a sudden, Sena cursed on how he didn't get to finsh watching it. He'll get to see their game against the American team though…

The eighth tournament,, Shinryuuji vs Oujou.

"The 'GODS', of Shinryuuji Nagas and the uncrowned, 'Kings', of Oujou White Knights who had only, until now, had their defense break. Now, once again, the Kings will challenge the Gods!" The announcers announced and Deimon sat close together in the seats.

--

Sena looked at the crowds, looking as if he was looking for someone. He was on the bench; coach decided that he shouldn't play for now. After all, Sena just recently came out of the hospital. Beside him, Sakuraba and Torakichi sat with him, talking.

Sena's eyes glanced around, looking at the crowd and saw Juumonji, Kuroki, Toganou, and Riku. They look a little tired, but happy. He smiled at them, knowing that they wouldn't see.

Sena's eyes ripped away from them and stopped at the Shinryuuji bench. They were meditating. And one of their bald players, seemed like he was the captain, as loud as he could, screamed, "KATSU!" Sena nearly fell off the bench. He realized that he wasn't the only one, too. The entire stadium was stunned. When Sena caught his breath, he blinked. _S… Scary… _Sena thought, happy that he wasn't playing.

"GLORY ON THE KINGDOM!" They yelled when coach finished his pep talk. Sena whispered it with his teammates as he turned his attention to the field. It was starting.

Too bad Sena saw the difference. Too late.

"This score… 28-0?" Sena trembled_. _"This isn't really possible… Is it?" Sena asked and Torakichi agreed._ The line was completely overpowered, Sakuraba was exhausted, and Shin-san… _He was worried. And then, something got caught on his throat. He knew this feeling anywhere. He looked around in panic and he saw it, a male with dreadlocks. He gulped. All of Sena's life, he thought he knew what evil was. Something bad. But this was the first time he actually came face-to-face to it. He could almost _see _the evil emitting around the dreadlocks man.

"TOUCHDOWN!" The sounds blared and Sena bit his lips and turned around. _And is this only when this Agon man isn't in there? Then… What would happen if he was? _Sena couldn't and didn't want to imagine that.

"Coach, let us use the Ballista." Sena's attention turned to Shin. _I've heard of it, but I never learned it. _He thought as most of the players looked surprised.

"I won't allow it!" The coach said, "Everyone here is under-practiced. You're the only one capable of doing it!" Casting a quick look at Sena, Shin nodded.

Sena looked off at Sakuraba, he looked exhausted, as well as many others. Although Torakichi was right next to him on a wheelchair, trying to cheer them on. Sena felt useless. _Did we loss? Did we even have a chance? _Sena started to tremble.

It was back on the field, Oujou's deffence, when Shinryuuji lost some more yards because Shin broke through the center.

_Shin-san looks exhausted… _Sena notes. When he blinked he saw Shin collapse gasping for his breath, he tried standing back up. Shogun called a time-out, so Sena ran onto the field, kneeling next to Shin.

"Sena… Don't look at me…" Shin said, and Sena never felt so... Angry? Sad? Disappointed?

Sena looked away and his voice dropped to a low whisper, "You're right… I won't look at you… Because I know that Shin-san is better that this… All I need to do it wait a little, right?" Sena asked and smiled softly, "I'll wait."

"Coach!" He said running to the coach. Takami raised his eyebrow, he never even _thought _of Sena using that kind of tone. "I want to play! I want revenge for Shin-san! For the sake of our glory!" He yelled and the Oujou's players blinked, _He actually had a backbone? _They thought.

"Well…I mean it would be nice…i-if I could get some r-revenge for Sh-Shin-san…" Sena stammered and the entire team sweat-dropped. Shogun sighed and looked at the clock, _Last five minuets of this game… _he thought and nodded. Calling player substitution, Shin was on the bench, and Sena was playing defense, as a safety. With Ikkyuu catching the ball, Sena couldn't catch him. Seven more points for Shinryuuji.

Oujou's offense, and Sena was still playing as a running back. Positioned, Takami decided to give him the ball.

"What the…?" Everyone saw that run, it was the fastest run.

"That speed…" A run that defeated Shin's famous 4.4 run. The fastest run throughout the High School, a 4.2 run…

Everyone was at awe. Who knew that a substitute player would be like this? Once Sena ran past them, they couldn't catch him. They couldn't catch the sharp and fast cuts, and they were taken back at the speed. He got into the end zone. And the entire stadium was in the state of shock. _Oujou made a touchdown, within the 5 seconds of their offence… _They thought, amazed.

"TOUCHDOWN!" It was now, 41-9, Shinryuuji was still winning. Shin was at the side, somewhere between upset and proud.. _I was taken off, because I wasn't good enough. And now, Sena, who just came out of the hospital, is in there for me. We're changing so I should… _He stood up.

"Coach." Shin turned his attention to Sena, who was back in front of Shoji. "Should I cover for defense too?" Sena asked, bitting his lips. _I haven't gotten all of my revenge yet… For Shin-san… _Sena's only thoughts were for revenge for the sake of Oujou's pride. His fist shook, his eyes moving at 4.2 speed. He was scared, but he stood, all for revenge.

_There isn't anything left, and there is no way we could spin things around with how they are…But… We shouldn't hurt Sena when he just came out of the hospital… _"…Why don't the two of you go out?" he said and Sena looked at him curiously, Shoji motioned to Shin. The two boys nodded and headed back out to the field.

"Yes, I'm sorry for the wait, Sena," he apologized and Sena shook his head and smiled. Sakuraba was puzzled, _We already lost, there is less than four minutes left anyways… So… Why do you keep trying? Sena? _Sakuraba was deep in thought, when he looked around he stadium, he saw the Deimon Devilbats. _Is it because of him? _He thought, wondering whether if he was correct, and whether he should ask.

Takami saw Sakuraba struggling with something and walked over to him. "Sakuraba, are you okay?" He asked and Sakuraba turned to his sempai.

"Takami-sempai! Well, I was wondering… Why is Sena striving so hard?" Sakuraba asked, and then told Takami about everything he witnessed and what he heard from Sena in the ally. Takami nodded, as if he understood and had that experience.

Takami looked to where Sakuraba was looking, where he saw the Deimon Devilbats. "Because of them?" He asked and Sakuraba nodded. "So, is that why you guys were so quiet during Sena's party?" Sakuraba nodded and Takami sighed. "I understand you, but… Shin? I never really saw him care about anyone other than himself and making it to the top, and football," Takami said.

"He's really selfish." Sakuraba agreed and they stared at Shin, who seemed more determined, and then at Sena, who was blocking all the passes, at least most of them, that were near him. He was running at his full speed, tackling Ikkyuu down. He wasn't panting hard, but lightly. "Sena, he got Shin to open up… I was with Shin for a couple of years, and I still cant' figure him out. But Sena… Wow…" Sakuraba's voice drifted off, and Takami nodded.

"I know." He said quietly.

--

"Man." Ikkyuu groaned, rubbing his side and the Shinryuuji players glanced at him during the offence-defense player switch, "He's oni-fast, but he uses his weight to tackle me. He's oni-light!" Ikkyuu said in disbelief, "Is it possible to be that light? Man, I would've been able to push him away, he as absolutely no body-build!" He twitched. "He blocked some of the passes too…" He growled.

"At least he didn't catch it." Unsui said and Ikkyuu twitched.

"It doesn't matter! I'm the catching genius! My passes shouldn't be blocked in the first place!" he sighed and Yamabushi stared at the number 21 on Oujou's team.

"He already knows that he lost…" Yamabushi thought out-loud. "So, why's he still striving for it?" Yamabushi, along with many others, glanced at the clock. 48-9. Uh-oh.

"Ah?" Agon growled. "How did they get so many touchdowns?" The younger twin genius growled and stared at Sena. He twitched, "Get rid of that piece of trash and all is good." He stated as if it was the most easiest thing possible.

--

Sena shuddered as he felt someone glare at him. But he shook it off. He was shaking hard. Takami stared at him, worried. "Sena, do you want to sit out?" he offered and Sena managed a weak smile.

It surprised Takami, he was sure that Sena would say 'yes!' and then rush off the field, but instead, he said something else. "I.... H-Haven't…Gotten t-t-the revenge… S-So… Until then…" Sena was scared out of his wits, but he wouldn't back down. If fact, he smiled a little. _Is it because the Deimon kid is here? Or is it really Shin? _Takami wondered. "U-Until the end of the game… I want t-to keep playing…" He stammered. And Takami nodded, he understood what Sena meant.

"SET! HUT! HUT!" He called and passed the ball to Sena. Sena passed some of the Shinryuuji members.

_One, two… _Sena broke right past them,_ three, four… _He was running and people continued running after Sena._Five, six… _the paths were completely open,_ seven, eight… nine… _Two more…_ Ten… _One more. Sena thought that something was fishy was going on, as if the players purposely opened the route_… eleven! _Sena counted all the people he passed and swooped down riding his full speed, 4.2.

"TOUCHDOWN!" The referees called.

"Amazing! Within the last five seconds, Oujou had achieved their last Touchdown! However, the game had ended! 48-15! Shinryuuji Nagas win and will continue to the finals!" Sena collapsed onto his knees. Oujou had lost.

Something clentched at Sena's guts. They wouldn't have to play the dangerous sport, but at the same time… They lost. It was a complete defeat. _Stupid… Why didn't you do anything? _He mentally cursed at himself as he over heard something.


	13. The Man that's Tall MAX

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Warning: Hiruma/Agon… Is there anything else?

Enjoy and review~~

※

"So, they really aren't the successors of the 'Golden Age'." Some of the scouts whispered. "Well, maybe number 21, if he came out before, they might have had a chance. Instead, I don't know what that coach was thinking. Sending out a player like that at the end of the game."

"I know. Maybe it was their emergency or secret weapon." The other replied.

"Well then, the coach should have known better and should have sent him out during half-time." They continued muttering until Torakichi couldn't stand it.

"Just you wait Shinryuuji-shit!" He yelled and Sena sweat-dropped. "Sakuraba is still injured, but Oujou will bring you down into the trash in the fall! Enjoy victory while you still can!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Agon looked over, he looked pissed. He grabbed a football and charged it at Torakichi's legs. He smirked and proceeded to walk away with the rest of his team.

The ball was a bullet, if not, faster as it cut the air and was charging at him... more like his legs...

There were three people that tried to save Torakichi and all three succeeded. The first two caught the ball, Raimon Taro, famously known as Monta, the wide receiver at Deimon, who caught the ball above his head. The second was Sakuraba, who caught the ball at the middle of his chest. And the two stared at each other, confuzzled and then looked back to check on Torakichi. He wasn't there, in fact, he was with Sena, the third person that saved him, and they moved him out of the way, far, far away...

"MUKYA!" The monkey receiver yelled at Shinryuuji, "Don't leave like that! Apologize!" He yelled after the shadows of the Shinryuuji players. Not even flinching when his teammates were down next to him.

"To be the number one receiver, you have to defeat Ikkyuu." Deimon's quarterback, Hiruma Youichi stated. Sakuraba was silent. "Afterall, Ikkyuu is the strongest receiver." He grinned.

"I'll defeat him! I'll be the strongest! Effort MAX!" He screamed and Sena felt himself laugh nervously when he saw the group of people.

_I have to defeat Shin and such. I have to rise to the top…_Sakuraba thought, "Torakichi. The boy looked up at his idol. "Oujou will win in the fall. It's a promise for me to defeat Ikkyuu, a promise that we will become stronger." He said determinedly. The entire Oujou team looked at him in surprise, and even though Shouji was surprised, he was very, very happy.

"Three monthes left until the fall game…"

"Hey check out our grade for this one." Kanzaki Shun, another receiver at Oujou tossed a magazine at Sena.

Sena fumbled with it and realized that is was the Monthly Football magazine. He skimmed through it and he found the grades. Takami leaned in closer to look at it. "Our run ran up from a D to a C! That's a major improvement." He said, quite surprised. "I guess we owe that one to Sena," Sena blushed and stuttered.

"Well… I-It was because of S-Shin-san helping me train…w…with Takami-san, and Sakuraba-san and everyone else…" He smiled.

"Hey, now. Don't be so modest. Everyone knows about your run, man. No need to hide it," most of the Oujou members laughed. And Sena blushed harder.

"B-But it's the truth," Sena half-way sobbed before Shin was in front of him.

"Sena-kun, would you like to go train?" he asked and Sena blinked at his role-model before nodded.

"S-sure!" he said as he followed the older man out to go on a jog. _Riku is going to play against America… I should go cheer him on… _he thought.

-July 20th-

Sena was lost, so he was wandering around. _Around here… This door should lead me to… _Sena walked in a locker room, there was no one there, not a single person in sight. He walked in, wondering where exactly he was.

"Fucking albino isn't here yet," he heard someone mutter and he turned around to see a tall person in a red football uniform that had the number '1' on it. He looked really familiar... He had spiky blonde hair and impossibly pointy ears. His emerald eye narrowed and then his mouth broke out into an all-out grin where he showed all of his teeth, they were sharp… Too sharp.

Sena gulped in fear, he remembered this man, his name was carved into his mind and his face too when he first met him. Hiruma Youichi. Sena squeaked and could've sworn he saw the devil himself when the blonde brought out a black notebook.

"Ke ke ke…" he crackled, sending a wave of shivers down Sena's spine, "Kobayakawa Sena, a student from Oujou High?" his grin grew again, "Goes works as a maid?" Hiruma started laughing, "Oh, this is priceless!" he said and then turned around, "I got to tell this to everyone!" he said and Sena stopped him by running at full speed in front of him.

Hiruma was first surprised and then Sena sent him a look of desperation, "I'll do what you want, just don't tell anyone!" he said and as soon as those words left his mouth, Sena clamped his mouth shut. _Congratulations, you just made a deal with the devil… _Sena inwardly sighed.

"Oh really?" Hiruma said and then laughed pushing Sena back in the locker rooms, made him wear a Deimon Devilbat uniform with a number '21' on it and a helmet with an Eyeshield.

"Eh? But I'm from," Sena turned around and Hiruma took a picture.

"I wonder what the Oujou people would say if they saw this picture…" Hiruma said with fake wonder and Sena's was mortified. "So, if you want me to keep my mouth shut, I suggest you play for the Devilbats for today until I say," he said, a grin too big for his liking.

Sena nodded and then put on the helmet. Sniffling, he followed Hiruma out onto the field, and, to his convenience, no one said anything, they just stared with this odd expression.

"Fucking Americans," he heard someone mumble. The small, frightened brunet was scared out of his wits as he stood in the huddle. "WE'LL FUCKING KILL THEM! YA-HA!"

As it turns out, Sena was going to start the game with a blitz, which also meant that he was playing both offense and defense, and Hiruma gave a quick one-throughout about the main things Sena had to know.

Sena, meanwhile, was as scared as hell.

As he ran with the full 4.2 speed he learned to keep from Shin, he was running, and was running, and why won't the line… HOLY SHIT!

The small Eyeshield 21 was thrown backwards onto his back as the NASA members threw a huge pass, "W-Woah…" Sena whispered in awe.

"Pass incomplete!"

"Using the blitz is really dangerous," number 80, Monta, right? Yeah, he was the guy that challenged Sakuraba! "We shouldn't use it so much," he said and Sena nodded.

"Alright, we're going to fucking increase the number on blitz," Hiruma stated as Monta's and Sena's jaw dropped.

-

As the NASA members continued their set of offense, #55 had broken through the defense and managed to rab the opponent's quarterback, and then, Sena felt that shiver run down his spine. The chance was far from done.

"TOUCHDOWN! The Shuttle pass is complete!" Sena sighed, it was their offense now.

"SET! HUT! HUT!" the line broke under a couple of seconds as Hiruma threw the ball to the ground, incomplete.

"SET! HUT! HUT!" Hiruma screamed once more and passed the ball to Sena.

Sena gulped and chewed on his lip as he ran for his life, dodging as much as he could, he was soon flung to the sidelines, and into a dog's cage. _Oh shi-! _Sena was ready to panic when the dog, brown and scruff, it smelled something, and immediately went to the source of the smell.

It bit another member, #18, a balder and older member of the team, by his wrists, making the male drop the food, Sena gasped as the ball was taken from Deimon and given to the NASA.

"The blitz… Can I do it some more?" Sena asked in a slight daze, and number 77 smiled.

"Sure!"

"Yeah, when we're on fucking _defense!_" he growled.

-

Alien's line was slightly broken, but good enough for Sena as he ran, his speed gradually getting faster.

And boy, did it scared the wits out of a lot of people? Yes it did!

There was only one thing that the small Eyeshield was after, the arm! _No matter how strong the person is, as long as you grab their arms, they cannot throw! _He thought to himself as he held on for dear-life. But after a moments time, the ball flew out of #5 on NASA's quarterback and Sena dove to get it.

"TOUCHDOWN! DEIMON'S METEOR 21 HAD MADE A TOUCHDOWN! Just who is that kid?"

"Well, I think it just might be Riku, but Riku has no need to hide an identity… and that Eyeshield-kun has yet to take off his helmet…" the end of the sentence died, but was heard and soon enough, there were many, many rumors going around and about.

Just then, a bitter shiver ran throughout Sena as he looked up, locking eyes with a black male. A panther-headband on his head, almost like a real panther...

"Dangerous MAX," Monta commented, "Good thing he's not playing…"

"Later on… He should play," Sena felt his eyes sparkling.

"Look, I know that you aren't Riku, but remember, if we lose, we have to leave Japan," Monta said, twitching and Sena gulped. _But... __My legs… they… They want to battle…_

-

"Blitz worked for a second time!"

Sena knew something was going on, and he knew it like how he knew that there were people glaring at him. It was imprinted in his bones. He gulped.

"Blue 27!"

"Set!" The entire Deimon members were stunned, what were they supposed to do like this?

"You two fuckers in the center! You're blitzing!" he called.

"That's… loud," Sena commented.

"No use!" Hiruma hissed back.

"HUT!" Homer, the NASA quarterback, paused. _Where the hell am I supposed to pass? _Like him, everyone else was surprised, when Deimon said that they were going to blitz, they didn't.

"DOWN!"

"Stupid YELLOW MONKEYS!" NASA's coach screamed in English.

"Alright, fucking monkey! Go blitz!"

"Ah ha ha! This is so scary!" Monta yelled, eyeing Hiruma closely.

"RED 36!" The coach, Apollo, called and while Homer was readying himself for a no-blitz…

Hey… why are there so many people coming after him?

-

Sena was running once more, _Even if I'm an outsider… I'm not going to soil Deimon's name! _Sena thought as he ran, only to be side-tackled from this small guy, the small shit? Sena was puzzled, there were two males, one was an over-powering male in the line, and the recently found one, together, they were the Gonzales brothers. More like the shit brothers, but Sena knew better than to laugh at that.

_Wait… When were their five seconds on the clock?_

_ -_

As the entire group fell on the bench, resting during half-time, they began discussing various things.

"Alright, we're using the Sweeper Tactic," Hiruma growled as he brought out a borad, "Fucking 21, you can't break through the defense by yourself, right?"

"Yeah, the strength is way to different," the Eyeshield man said, and Jyuumonji narrowed his eyes, he could've sworn that he met him before…

"Alright, what we do is…" he grabbed a broom and put it onto his little platform, "We sweep out all the fucking trash!" he said happily.

"Who?" Juumonji questioned.

"Ke ke ke…" Hiruma's grin grew as he pointed a finger at the three, "You fucking linemen will!" he declared.

"Huh?"

"Huuuh?"

"HUUUUH?!?"

"All of you fuckers are going to protect him, so push everyone aside to let him through!" Hiruma yelled as they got back onto the field, "You protect Eyeshield well! If not, we won't fucking win! And we will leave Japan if you don't win! What will make the fucking difference from winning and losing is the moment the line will fucking prove that they are apart of the fucking team!" Hiruma cursed.

Juumonji paused as he stood on the field with Kuroki and Toganou.

"Eyeshield 21…San?" Sena tensed up and gulped as he turned around, just to see the back of a head and #51, Juumonji Kazuki, his former bully.

"Y-You don't have to—"

"You are strong," the ex-bully that used to make Sena his gopher, was he complimenting him? "We will make a hole in their defense so that you can run through," he said steadily, "In terms of strength, we may not be stronger then them, and might not be able to defeat them," he slowly turned around, his head hanged down, and his voice almost cracked, "Kuroki, Toganou, and I will try to shield you for a moment, so in that moment… Please... Please go through."

-

_When I saw met them all those time ago, I never heard them lie… _Sena gulped as he received the ball once more, he ran, this time behind four people, _And… Even though we all have different reasons… We all have one goal… _He looked up and as he felt his legs go slightly faster one thought flickered into his mind. _To… WIN! _

It was small, but he managed to grab 10 yards, earning four more downs. As the group was spreading high-fives, and Sena was kicked multiple time, he as still happy to see that others were happy as well.

"E-S! TOGANOU! KUROKI! JUUMONJI!" the crowd was cheering and Sena smiled, he doesn't remember a single time where he was cheered on like this. Even if it wasn't his real name.

As they continued to get those touchdowns, it wasn't long until they received another touchdown.

Back-to-back touchdowns, and time was running shorter…

And then, #20 came on the field, a natural sprinter. Sena looked at him and let out some shaky breaths, _Finally…_

Nine minutes are left as Panther made a touchdown, with weightless legs, it seems as though he's running through them…

And he ran straight pass Sena, twice. _Shin-san… he will be disappointed if he saw this side of me… that's why… Even if my ankle just healed, I have to do my best… or else…_

And once again, Sena was shoved off-sides, by guess who?

Panther.

"Oi!… Who's the best runner? Shin? Or you?" Panther asked, translated by Watt, "Because I thought number 29 was going to be out here, so I came, and instead, I meet you!" he said with a happy expression,"But it's okay!" he said brightly, "I want to go to the NFL, with my 'defying gravity run'!" Sena was quiet as he remembered a bunch of players...

"Shin-san… Is defiantly better, but…" Sena's eyes flashed as he felt something boil within him, "I may not be able to run like you, but I'll win with my own running style!" he declared, before adding silently, "I think…"

Luckily, no one heard.

-One minute left-

"I-INTERCEPTION!" Panther titled backwards as Sena ran back knowing what's going on, _His arms… _as the natural sprinter ran, Sena managed to end up right next to him, keeping his eyes only on the ball.

As he managed closer, and was knocked away, he quickly came back and when Panther withdrew his arms on more time…

Sena's arms stretched foreword as the touched the football, quickly receiving it and running straight towards the touchdown zone. _Training with Shin-san… really did pay off… _Sena panted as he was ready to fall he was caught by number 29.

"Hey you, we're switching," he said as the Eyeshield nodded, "I don't know who you are, but... thank you," Sena felt himself smile in his 'older-brother's' embrace.

Hiruma called a time-out as the numbers switched, "Great job, fucking chibi," he whispered to Sena, who smiled and nodded as he ran off the field.

-

Sena was running out and around the stadium to get to a bus to go to Mt. Fuji. _Man, coach is going to kill me for this… _

"Hey, you!" A stern voice came up from behind him as Sena jumped and turned around, "I attended middle school in America. There, I saw him with my own two eyes, the real Eyeshield 21 from Notre Dame, The real Eyeshield 21" he glowered, "You… Are you trying to mock Eyeshield?" he was an extremely tall male with bark blue eyes and matching hair, next to him was an equally tall male with crazily spiky hair.

"Eh?" Sena gulped, this guy knew Eyeshield? Uh-oh! "N-no?" he sounded pathetic.

"Then why are you using his title? Someone as small as you can't be as great as him," he said coldly and Sena twitched, "He had the perfect run, and the perfect body-build. More than anything, he never fell over, he ran even when there was many Americans tackling him,"

"So… You're a fake?" the blonde asked.

"It doesn't matter," Icy daggers stabbed Sena, "Because a guy like you, small, and thin, you will never catch up to Eyeshield 21," he said before turning away.

"Size doesn't matter…" he whispered as the NASA members walked out of the stadium, slightly peeved at the fact that they'll be stuck here, and Panther recognized the players quarrelling, and surprised sapphire eyes turned back to him, "I'll prove to you that… to you guys and everyone like you guys, that size doesn't matter in American football! That even people as small as us can the best!" Sena confidently said and then he gulped as he locked eyes with Kakei, "And I'll never defeat anyone in strength, or catching, or throwing, because, I only think about running," he said.

Kakei's eyes narrowed, "Then I challenge you now," he said.

Sena gulped, if he ran in his state, he would collapse, but he didn't care. _Shin-san… Shin-san will be disappointed if I lose… that's why… So that's why! _

As the two were ready to go one-on-one, Sena realized that a bus was ready to leave, and so, he ran. At first, he was put down quite easily and so, he gritted his teeth.

"See, I told you that you won't win," he said simply.

"On…One more time!" Sena called back as he quivered back on his feet, he wasn't going to disappoint the Oujou name like this, with or without a title, Oujou has their glory! The blonde was surprised, as well as the aqua-head.

"It's useless, but if you're determined to," the tall male turned around and when he was ready, Sena ran. Straight into him, and like before the male was going to tackle him when.

Sena spun.

Around his arm and past him at a full 4.2 speed, Sena passed him, and it also caused him to faint.

-

"What the?" Sena sprung back up, his helmet was still on, and he was in a locker room, his clothes folded neatly to the side, Sena quickly assumed that everything was a dream and that he needs to get to Mt. Fuji. As he hurried and changed into his Oujou uniform, he walked out the room.

"So the mysterious Eyeshield 21 is from Oujou?" Sena tripped and fell, but didn't hit the ground.

"Careful," the brunet was turned around as his eyes met the guy from earlier, "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone," he said with a soft smile.

"I'm so sorry!" the taller male blinked as the smaller one started bowing furiously.

"W-Wait… for what?"

"Er… I mean… I must've been a burden and…"

"You… You completely passed me," he was interrupted, "I'm Kakei Shun, a linebacker in the Kyoshin Poseidon," he quickly introduced himself.

"Ah… I'm from Oujou, running-back, um… I'm K-Kobayawaka Sena, please call me Sena," the Oujou member looked at his feet sadly.

"I was… completely defeated by you," Kakei said, and bit his lips, "But… I'm curious, why did an Oujou member lend a hand to Deimon?" he asked, curiously.

"D-Demon…" Sena whimpered and Kakei blinked, "He… He was blackmailing me…" he sniffed.

"A-Ah I-I see," he said uncertainly. Quickly he changed the subject, "With… With my level of strength, I don't think I'll ever defeat you," he said certainty in his voice.

"N-No, if… if we have one more match… No one will know the outcome," Sena gulped and Kakei shook his head.

"This time… my perspectives were too narrow, like before… I only believed in strength-based techniques which took advantage of great height. So I didn't even imagine the fact that shorties like you could be strong," he admitted, "I…I want to see you against the Real Eyeshield 21 and see if you can defeat him, and how he'll react… So… I'll be waiting in the finals," he with a small smile.

"KAKEI! Did he wake up?" the hyper-active blonde came back and Kakei's face turned solid.

"Yeah, he left already," the lie was smooth and Sena was looked surprised at Kakei.

"Huh? Why are you with an Oujou student?" Mizumatchi asked and Kakei looked at Sena.

"I ran into him," Kakei said, flashing a smile at Sena, who blushed.

"Uh-huh," the blonde said, suspicious, "Did Kakei-chan do anything to you? Don't worry, I'll protect you!" he said happily and Kakei twitched and smacked his head with a fist, "Ow! That hurt!" he said before smiling back at Sena, "Anyways, I'm Mizumatchi Kengo!" he said happily and Sena quickly introduced himself.

"Ignore him, I'll see you at the finals, Sena," Kakei said softly and Sena nodded a smile on his face as he bid them farewell.

"Oh? Someone has a—Ow!"

※

Sena meanwhile, was now panicing.


	14. Angels Cry

Disclaimer: Don't own. So, you don't sue me.

Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, bad writing, alcohol, ect.

Enjoy and review~~

※

And so, Sena was stuck next to Panther, and behind Homer and Watt at the back of the bus.

"Eh? You're from Shin's school?" Panther asked as Watt translated. Sena nodded, "WOW!" Panther's eyes were sparkling, "So, are you in the team?" he asked.

"Um… yes?"

"Really?" Panther's eyes perked up, "What position?"

"Eh? I'm a running-back," Sena said, half-proud, half-modest.

"Really?" Sena nodded, scared out of his wits, "That… I'm one too!" happy to have some sort of connection wit the male, he kept talking, "…But… I wish I saw Eyeshield 'til the end…" a melancholy smile appeared on Panther's face as he looked off to the ceiling, "I came in the middle of the game… and I still lost. So… the next time we fight, it'll be on fair grounds… and I'll defeat him!"

Sena smiled.

※

"Panther-san?" Sena ran after the male and up Mt. Fuji, _Ugh… So hard to breathe…_

Rushing in and panting hard, coming in just in time to see the classic scene of Panther and Shin eating a wild boar next to a fire.

"Sena," the linebacker nodded at the brunet...

Later, Takami, Wakana, pants and underwear-less Otawara, and Sakuraba was sitting with Shin, Panther, and Sena, having a Japan-American Barbeque, with Panther explaining what happened, the group turned to their translator.

"So, basically..." Takami muttered under his breath as he scribbled more letters into the dirt, continuing his earlier rants, "You want to challenge Shin, but instead met 'Eyeshield 21'?" Sena flinched at the title, but no one seemed to notice.

"Yes," Shin was already leaving while Panther turned to him, with Takami translating in the background, "The reborn Nasa Shuttles! As long as I can wear that uniform, I can't compromise!" he yelled, "If I go back like this, it'll be the same as running away! Let's have a match!"

Oh, did that boy know what he was bringing up?

"Right now," after a short slience, "You have no chance of beating me," he said simply, _I will not trample over someone who has no chance..._

_Does that mean... Does that mean that I'm no match for Shin-san as well? _Sena paled at the thought, _No wonder. Shin-san is always helping me and I'm just... _Realization came at him, _I'm just dead weight?_

And then, he watched the painful Spear Tackle slamming down on Panther, and taking the 'ball', the bag.

And then, came the words out of Takami's mouth, "That's right, Shin can see the most 'effective' routes..." the quarterback said, putting his glasses up, and the brunet just stopped.

"...Then... am I no match for Shin-san as well?" he wondered aloud, the blonde and the black-haired sempai flinched and turned to their running-back.

"W-what?"

_Because... I lost too... _he gritted his teeth, "Then... I too, will get better!" he declared.

"Huh?"

"I lost!" Panther bowed his head while Otawara laughed.

"Bwahaha! Yep, you were defeated!"

"Why are you so proud?" Takami wondered.

"Wait!" Panther cried after Shin, who once again, paused, "Can Eyeshield 21 pass you?"

At this moment in time, Sena was the one who spoke up, "Eyeshield 21? The one from the D-Deimon game?" he asked and the fellow running-back nodded, "Him?" he gulped and sighed, "He... He can't pass Shin-san," he said.

"...Who's Eyeshield 21?" the Oujou linebacker asked, he remembered one from the Spring Tournament, against the Bando Spiders, but, Deimon has one as well? Was it Kaitaini Riku?

No, Shin remembers seeing the white-haired male, and he watched the Deimon vs NASA Aliens, and that Eyeshield 21... his eyes flickered to Sena.

How did he know him so well?

"W-what?" the group stared at Shin with disbelief.

-After a large, confusing moment...-

"Wait, you're going back?" Takami asked in slight disbelief.

"Yep! I already knew that I'm way too inexperienced," Panther sighed, "So I'd better go back home and start training again," he grinned, "Because right now, I have the best coach!"

Meanwhile, Shin already ran off to continue his training and in response, Takami was well, panicing, "Wait! Shin! You don't have a GPS system!" he called out, and Sakuraba took the system, "I'll catch him," he said, slinging a bag over his shoulder and began to run after the male.

"T-Takami-sempai?" Sena's meek voice seemed to echo.

"Yes, Sena-kun?"

"Is... Is it okay if I want to get stronger as well?" he asked, stammering.

"What?"

"I... I want to go to the Christmas Bowl and... win, with everyone!" he called, and then blushed, "Er... At least that's what I want to think but..." he took a hesitant breathe, "Is it okay if I'm selfish like this?"

"...What you're thinking of Sena," Takami said, a soft smile on his face, "Is nothing more than the ambition of everyone else."

"Eh?"

"That's right," Wakana said, agreeing with the tall quarterback, "Don't worry about it. Everyone wants to go to the Christmas Bowl, and we will get there, right?"

"Yeah..."

And for the first time ever, Takami witnessed that Wakana actually cared.

"3.16!"

"Wow! Shin-san got faster!" Sena exclaimed happily and pursed his lips, "Then... me too."

Although he had a completely different training from Shin, it was paying off by a ten-fold. _I want to win... I want to win with everyone... I... I won't become the dead-weight!_

With those thoughts in mind, he kept running and kept on training.  
Meanwhile, Shin was surprised by the massive amounts the kid was putting on himself, to run up and down Mt. Fuji, keeping the same 4.2 speed, and kick around a pebble like Shogun instructed him to do.

"Sena, what I'm teaching you," Shogun began, "Is to change your change-of-pace habit," he said and the brunet nodded, "So, your training is going to be kicking this pebble. If you lose it, you'll restart training. And until you finish the training, you won't play in the Fall Tournament."

"Eh? O-okay..." Sena squeaked.

Within a couple of days, he had upgraded into kicking it into a zig-zag formation.

"Coach," turning over to Takami, the quarterback asked the question, "Why is Sena doing this training?"

"Well, his change-of-pace has a fatal weakness, so, we're going to get rid of it," the black-haired male next to him nodded, "So, in other words," he smirked, "The White Knights are getting their Phantom."

-Weight-Room-

The room was...dead.

Sena saw it coming, Takami was on the verge of snapping, "Ta-Takami-sempai?" he wondered, and when he saw the fist go up, instincts kicked in and he rushed over.

And for the first time in his life, he was too late.

The room fell silent as the body hit the ground with a dull 'Thud'. Sakuraba looking up with petrified eyes...

And for the first time ever, the Oujou White Knights saw their captain snap.

But, that didn't seem to faze him, "Sakuraba... How dare you... Don't you know how long... These five years, how long I..." he sighed and then turned around and out the door, "I'm sorry. I'm a failure as an upperclassmen."

"...But what if there is nothing to forgive?" he wondered aloud.

**A little later...**

While the college members of Oujou Silver Knights were yelling at the group.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" he demanded, as the person behind him read the Amefuto magazine.

"Due to Oujou's weakening, it is safe to say that the number one title goes to Seibu..."

"So, just because we, the golden generation, has left, you guys can slack off? Takami!"

"A crushing defeat from Shinryuuji as all the passes were blocked by Ikkyuu..."

Wakana sighed, the mood was horrible, Sakuraba and Takami hasn't talked to each other...

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" three males desperately tried to stop the door from opening, the door that a certain ex-delinquent tried to get out.

"Who's that?" one of the seniors asked.

"Uh... It's the new guy, Ikari," Sena flinched at the name, "If he gets out, it'll get really messy."

And then, the door smashed down, "ORAA!" he screamed, "You bastards just can't SHUT UP, now can you?" he screamed, his black mascara shining on his red-skinned-face, "How dare you insult TAKAMI-SAN!" he screamed, attacking his upperclassmen. With a triumphant grin on his face, satisfied with the hit.

"You... You drop-kick your sempai? How dare you!" and thus, the fight began.

Ending with Otawara chaining down Prison-Chain Ikari, Takami following them outside to where their coach was as well.

Meanwhile, Sena and Sakuraba was walking around, getting a cold drink to cool down with.

"It's, really crazy, huh?" he said nervously.

Sakuraba offered a small smile as he drank the drink, managing to over-hear Takami's and Shogun's conversation.

"No, I believe that this years Oujou is the strongest," the coach said, surprising everyone, "In the fall tournament, I have two speed monsters, Shin and Sena, and one of them slowly becoming perfect," he said and Sakuraba rolled his eyes and Sena felt even more guilty, "I can use Ikari now, and Sakuraba... He's becoming a true athlete."

Sena's eyes lit up and softly smiled at the blonde, who blinked, "If it wasn't for Sakuraba and everyone else giving me some strength," Takami said, "I wouldn't have made it to be a candidate," he said laughing slightly, explaining what had happened, "After that, I always hear the same things. 'He's just a second-rate quarterback that can't run, and isn't anything flashy'," he said.

Sena, for some odd reason, could relate.

"But this year, my final chance," he said, "Because Sakurada is improving bit by bit... becoming to take the receiver position..." the soft smile on the glasses-man face never faded once.

"I still remember sometimes, we lost the championship because the receiver was to short. We lost by 100mm," Shogun sighed, "The great height of you and Sakuraba is a great weapon."

"I... I am a normal player that slightly taller than the average person," Takami started once more, "I can't aviod the enemy's tackles, nor can I make a touchdown myself. By myself, I can't beat anyone," he said, "So I waited. And I kept waiting for someone that completed my height. I waited for that partner named Sakuraba Haruto, who would enable me so that I can become a top-class player. I've waited for six years."

Sakuraba silently cried and Sena, with that soft smile on his face, leaned against him, comforting the older man.

In the end, the entire group went off to climb Mt. Fuji, kicking a pebble in a zig-zag formation, Sena ran was in the front with one Shin Seijurou, followed by Sakuraba and the rest of the team.

_This is a team, Mamo-nee. Are you proud of me?_


	15. The Man That Works PartTime

Disclaimer: Don't own. So, you don't sue me.

Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, bad writing, alcohol, ect.

Enjoy and review~~

※

Sena sighed as he ran into the stadium, too late.

Deimon already won.

This is the second time he was late to watch.

Stupid part-time job...

"I'm here!" Sena called as he walked into the cafe.

"Oh! Sena-kun!" J called, out and called him over, "Hurry! We're opening in a couple of!"

"H-hai!" rushing in and back out in his maid costume, he blushed darkly, his spiky hair dead and against his face, coming down to his shoulders, _It... grew..._

"Aww... you look absolutely adorable!" she cried out, "Don't worry, I was watching your games!" she called happily.

"Oh, you're here," a tall male, well built, with glowing red eyes with contradicting black hair.

"Hey, X!" J called and the male nodded.

"Ah... h-hello," Sena bowed his head polietely.

"Nice to meet you, I'll be sleeping in the back," the man seemed completely unfazed by all of this, really.

"Oh! First customer! Go, Sena-chan, GO!" nodding his head, he carefully walked around in his dance shoes.

"He-hello, how may I help you today?"

"That... That's so smart," he heard the purple haired male say as he stared at Sena, a red haired male sitting across from him, his purple sunglasses tinting in the light.

"Fuu. Your rhythm is an interesting one," he said, slightly strumming the guitar and nodding at the male.

"Wow! You're really cute!" the green haired girl cried out, she sat on the other side of the purple haired man, who finally stopped checking him out.

"Whoa! Julie!" the male cried out, furiously brushing his hair, "Not smart!" he called out, waving his arms around, "You shouldn't go ogling at random people."  
"Then what are you doing, Kotarou?" Julie demanded. The male tried to find words, but only gibberish came out.

"Fuu. Calm down," the other male said lightly strumming his guitar, "The dissonance of your harmony is contradicting one another," he sighed and then, after taking his sunglasses off, "I would like some coffee, please."

"A-ah... okay," Sena said nodding his head and he wrote it down, receiving another, "Fuu." from the man.

"Umm... I want some carrot cake with... mocha bubble tea," Julie said, "What about you, Kotarou?"

"Uh..." gulping down a blush, he looked at the menu and back at the 'waitress' in front of him, "I would like a... Espresso, and a... uh... ugh! Totally not smart!" he whimpered and with a last, deep breath, "I would like," _You, _Kotarou mentally smacked his head at that perverted thought, "A BLT sandwhich."

"Ah, hai," with a curt bow, Sena walked smiled politely at them, "Please wait," scurrying off, he couldn't help but wonder why those kids seemed so familiar...

* * *

"Eh? I-I'm going to be playing? Against the Sengoku Punks?" small Kobayakawa Sena blinked and shuddered.

_Impossible..._

"Do not worry, Sena," Shin said, perfectly calm, "I will protect you."

It was really cool, except the minor fact that Sena knew that Shin was on defense, and he was on offense, the male gulped, paling further.

"Now, would you like to train?"

"Ah," a quick glance at his clock, and Sena gulped, "I-I'm sorry S-Shin-san, but I can't today."

Shin seemed puzzled as Sena blushed, looked away, and then ran away.

_That was the first time Sena had rejected me... _Shin's eyebrows knitted together, "Sakuraba!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Shin?" the tall receiver came up to his friend.

"Sena has just rejected me," the blonde chocked on his water, had he heard right? _Wait... Shin got this far without my help... Oh gods Sena, run for it._

"W-WHAT?"

"Sena had just rejected me," the stotic male said and turned to Sakuraba, "Would you know why?"

"Uh..." the taller of the two just seemed to be dumbfounded, and coughed, regaining composure, "Maybe he doesn't want to go with you," he said.

This seemed to shock number 40, "Have I done something wrong?"

By this time, Sakuraba felt really bad for Sena, and turned to his quarterback, "Takami-sempai!"

"Hmm? What's the occasion, Sakuraba, Shin?" the male asked.

"Er... Um..."

"Kobayakawa Sena has rejected me."

"...What?" the slow, venomous voice directed at Shin was made to kill him, "What did you do? Sakuraba..."

"N-no! No!" Sakuraba cried out in despair as he sniffled, "Sena didn't want to go out with Shin today! It's not my fault!" he cried out, near-tears.

"Oh, is that it?"

"What? My darling little Sena did what?" Wakana seemed very surprised, "I... I wasn't expecting that."

"Maybe he got tired of Shin!" Otawara said happily, laughing loudly.

The group went silent as the lineman walked away, very content with himself.

"...Shin?" Sakuraba turned to the said man, who looked shocked beyond words.

"Sena... is no longer going to be my fan?"

…

Sena sneezed as he fixed his hair, "Ugh... I hope no one's talking about me..."

…

"Sena is Shin's fan? Takami, you owe me lunch!" Wakana said happily and Takami sighed.

"Are you sure Shin?" he asked, and the linebacker looked puzzled.

"...According to Sakuraba..." the blonde smacked his forehead, _So that's the real reason why he asked... _he groaned.

"...I must train harder," walking off, Shin muttered to himself, "So that his eyes will only be on me..."

"...I think we should warn Sena, so that he can have a head-start," Sakuraba said.

"250 yen that Sena will make it for tomorrow," Takami challenged, an uncertain smile came from Wakana.

"Really? I'd say... 300 yen that Shin will find Sena."

And in the background, Sakuraba shuddered immensely before pausing, "Oh."

"What's wrong Sakuraba?" the glasses wearing man asked.

"...Sena is at his part-time right now."

"...Oh shit."

**OMAKE:**

Shin: Sakuraba, I need your assistance.

Sakuraba: What's wrong Shin?

Shin: Has your fans ever avoided you?

Sakuraba: What do you mean?

Shin: Sena has been rejecting some of my offers to train, and he goes and trains by himself.

Sakuraba: Er... (insert nervous laughter) May...Maybe he wants to impress you for the tournament.

Shin: I see. I have not been able to see his improvements yet...

Sakuraba: Well, my fans, when they avoid me is usually so they could get my attention even more.

Shin: … Then what shall I do?

Sakuraba: Don't give up and keep approaching (jokingly)... Huh? Shin? Where did you go?

-x-

Sena: S-sakuraba-san...

Sakuraba: S-Sena? What's wrong?

Sena: I-I think someone is stalking me.

Takami: Don't worry, it's only Shin.

**OMAKE**:

Takami: 2500 yen that Sena will date Shin by the end of this series.

Wakana: 8000 yen that he'll end up with some other hot guy.


	16. What I've Done

Disclaimer: Don't own. So, you don't sue me.  
Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, alcohol, fighting, ect.  
Enjoy and review~~

Sachiel Angelo- I will try to the best of my ability to put in as many hints as possible. I hope you will not be disappointed.

cateyes123- For you, I made this chapter longer than anticipated.

Lillian VonDei- your last sentence worries me.

SatanSpawn- I understand you dislike for it, just treat everything as though it's great friendship.

animeismysoul- Will this one work for somewhat of a good story?

doodle808- I hope I'm not moving to quickly for you, I might put in some random scenes in to lengthen and slow it down, maybe add some more hints.

A/N: Look, I'm alive.  
※

"Hai! Welcome," Kobayakawa Sena's smile froze where it was.

"Kobayakawa-"

"AHHH!"

Why was Shin as his part-time job?

The male looked at him, clearly puzzled, "Kobaya-"

"GAHH!"

"What's going on here?" J walked out of her spot behind the counter, "Treat all guest with respect," she scolded, and then smiled at the customer, "How can I help you?"

Sena was so lucky that day, the fact that the his regular uniform had gotten messy with someone's coffee allowed him to where a normal, butler-like uniform instead. Fortunately for him, he was allowed to let his hair go back to being its natural spikiness.

Why he couldn't have worn that in the first place, he'd rather not figure out.

"ORAAA!" a scream echoed as a red-skinned male walked in, "SENA!"

"I-I-Ikari?" Sena quickly meep as he hid behind his silver tray in fear of the male.

The linebacker looked completely puzzled and then said, "Ikari, why aren't you coming to practice?"

"I was under-house arrest," the male grumbled.

"EH? I-Ikari-san is on the team?"

"...You weren't informed?" Shin asked, turning back to his ex-fan.

"What, are you on the team?" swinging some chain over his shoulder, the male slouched over.

"Y-yes," Sena said, very, very uncomfortable about this.

"WHAT?" the male was completely astonished, "You!"

Sena gulped as he began to tremble.

And then, the volcano just stopped, as Ikari shrugged.

"Okay," he said, and then grinned, "So, you were faking it when you were against them..." he said, very satisfied with himself.

"Eh?"

The three, after announcing to Sena's boss that he'll be taking a break, sat down at a round table, Ikari angerly tapping his foot on the ground, and Shin patiently drinking water.

Sena gulped as he sipped on his cup of milk.

"Um... So, why are you here, Shin-san?" he asked.

"...I was training," the stoic linebacker replied.

"I'm so sorry!" the smaller male jumped up as he began bowing to the male, and Ikari snapped.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT, KORAA!"

"I'm so sorry!"

-x-

His job at the cafe ended then when they were asked to leave, and with no other place to go, they went back to the dormitory. Until Shin announced that he was going to go train, by himself, after giving a pointed look at Sena.

_I must train harder so that he'll look only at me..._

Leaving Sena and Ikari by themselves.

_I'mscrewed.I'mscrewed.I'msofreakingscrewed... _Like some sort of mantra, he continued repeating those words as the delinquent looked at him curiously.

"What did you do to him?" he asked.

"Eh?" scared shit-less, the voice came out at least five octaves high than usual.

"No, I've never seen any kind of emotion on that guy," the thought processed thoroughly and Sena gasped.

Was he so bad that Shin-san didn't like him anymore?

Was he being left behind?

A tight twist jerked around in his gut and the brown-haired male gulped.

"I-Ikari-san," he said, the Defensive Lineman turned to stare at him, "Please tell the group that I am training," he said sternly before rushing off in another direction.

"Ha?" Ikari watched the small male run off, and shrugged, "Weird kid."

"100-0! Oujou White Knights come back with a smashing victory against the Sengoku Punks!" the screams echoed in the stadium as the Knights quietly left the field for Deimon, with the exception of Otawara and Ikari, who seemed to be having a screaming competition.

They've been winning without any real competitions, with Shin's amazing trident tackles getting each and every person out, and Kobayakawa Sena, who was going at a safe, 4.3 speed to

defeat the rest. Of course, he had help from Sakuraba and Takami, who both were training hard to get to the Christmas Bowl.

The games were fairly easy and not enough thrill, the thought irked Sena, and he quickly pushed it away.

Quickly changing his line of thoughts, Sena watched with sparkles on his eyes as Deimon got ready for the next match.

"Kazuki-san..." he whispered softly.

"Looks like Yuuhi are going with the aces of their other teams..." Takami said.

"Eh?" bright brown eyes gazed at his captain.

"Well, this is their last chance..." Sakuraba said, "But isn't that low?"

"No, when you want to win, nothing can get in the way," Shogun replied.

Slightly worried, the fastest runner in the district looked off back into the field. He saw their wins, as the original Yuuhi Gut team rushed out to play, Deimon still won with no problem.

And to top that, Kyoshin Poseidons will be playing against them too. Especially after their turn-around win against the Deers.

It was amazing, so exihilerating!

_My legs... They want to run... _Bright eyes looked off at the lush green field and before breaking into a fool's grin.

Kobayakawa Sena was anxious to go up against Deimon at the Christmas Bowl, to go meet Juumonji once more...

Not that they would win or anything, but it would be nice, to build up there and meet him.

"T-Takami-san?" he approached the senior quietly as the rest of the team was getting ready for the bus ride home.

"What's wrong, Sena-kun?" _Hiruma, if you're doing anything, then I'll-_

"I... I have a request."

Immediately, everything in the room went dead silent as everyone seemed to lean in closer to hear what Sena had to say. This was the first time anybody heard Sena want something.

"What is it?" almost ready to wipe out whatever it was in his pocket, Sena looked at his feet before shyly looking up at his quarterback.

"It's really, really selfish of me to say this but..." a soft blush appeared on his face, "I would like to go to the Christmas Bowl with everyone."

Grins and smile appeared on everyone's faces as they laughed, "Sena, you don't even have to ask!" they said brightly.

"Why do you want to get there, Sena-kun?" Takami asked kindly as he sipped from his water bottle.

"Oh, I just wanted to meet Kazuki-kun there..." he said.

"Kazuki?" the quarterback racked his mind for the name. That's right, Sena had been talking about him a lot lately...

"Yes, because Kazuki-kun, is amazing," the small running-back said, his eyes sparkling and the bottle in Takami's hand bent.

"Is that so?" the words were strangled out of the male, as he forced himself to keep a good smile so that he wouldn't completely scare the first year.

"Yeah..."

"What position is he?"

"He's a lineman..."

Shin stiffened as he listened to this conversation as Sakuraba gasped, "Your rival is a lineman?" he cried out.

Sena blushed as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, "I guess Kazuki-kun is amazing like that."

"...Isn't Deimon's line... Isn't his name Juumonji Kazuki?" Sakuraba asked and then, the tall male turned to the shorter one, "You guys are on first name basis?"

Shin twitched.

Could it be that... He and Sena...

"Yeah, we've been together for a while..."

Weren't even **considered** as comrades?

The thought struck Shin harder than any tackle possible.

That Sena was looking up to a lineman...

Was Shin Seijuro not good enough?

The thought caused the linebacker to curse under his breath. He will not be the dead-weight. He will be so good that Sena would come back to him as his fan.

"Takami-san," he said, turning to the quarterback, who finished changing by now, and sent Sena an direct look, "I shall be practicing more today."

The trio looked stunned as the male walked away and Sena nodded, as though he finally understood everything.

"I-I must be better than what I am for Juumonji-kun..." he said, and then turned to Takami, "Please excuse me," he said and then did the same for Sakuraba before rushing.

"I'm worrying about those two..." the captain said to his receiver as he pushed his glasses up.

"...Me too, I need to practice as well," the male said, a passionate look glimmering in his eyes, before leaving as well.

The older male was left in the locker rooms, blinking once before changing into work clothes.

He won't fall behind ever again.

"Deimon?" Sakuraba was completely surprised as he stared at the team they had run into at a Korean meat-house.

"Kazuki?" the gasp came out of Sena as he rushed forward to meet the linebacker.

"Sena?" the male looked up at him and blinked, "Why's Oujou he-"

"KURITA!" the booming voice of Otawara cut through everything else as the Sena and Sakuraba flinched.

"Sena!" Riku jumped up to greet his 'younger brother'.

"Riku!" the small male's eyes lit up further.

"Gahaha!" a sharp laugh from the back corner as a small male laughed happily, "Celebrating vitcory at a meet-house, "Even if it's been over 30 years, we still think the same, don't we," a

large swing at his beer as the male smirked, "Shouji?"

For the first time ever, the team got to witness their coach brighten up like a sunrise, "Doburoku..." he gasped, as though he had been reunited with someone who has long passed away.

Within moments, both teams sat down with each others, women at one table discussing something about 'dating', Shogun and Doburoku having their own, unapproachable corner, and

Takami and Hiruma were 'conversing' about...interesting topics.

Kobayakawa chuckled as he watched Juumonji, Monta, Otawara, and Ikari start a eating competition.

Needless to say, consuming that much meat will be too much for anyone.

Ikari fumbled with his chains as he continued eating like a machine.

"So, what's up?" Riku asked.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old," Sena laughed.

"So, you trained over the summer?"

"Of course, Riku," the male said.

"What did you learn?"

The air around the smaller male froze as he nervously turned over, "Uh... I... Um..."

"I'm just kidding," the white-haired male laughed, "I got you good, Sena," he said in between laughs.

"That's not funny!" honey brown eyes huffed.

"RIKU!" Juumonji called, "More eating, less talking!"

"Shut up! A man can eat when he wants!" he called back.

"You'll grow taller if you eat more meet!" Kuroki called back, before shoving three pieces of meet into his mouth at the same time.

"F-Fugo!" little Komosubi called out.

A grin escaped his lips as Riku continued to snap back at his teammates.

_Amazing... Riku can get so many friends... So easily..._

The thought was trying to kill him, and Sena wasn't going to allow it to happen, he quickly turned back to the task at hand.

Allowing Oujou to win the meet contest.

As he picked up his chopsticks and began eating at a slow and steady pace, the group around him having a scream-fest, he allowed himself to smile.

_I guess... Every now and then... It's okay to-_

"SENA?" Mamori rushed to the scene, "Sena, how are you?"

"M-Mamo-nee?" the male blinked as she grinned.

"That's me!" she said happily, "After I heard that you and Rikkun were going to play American Football, I decided that I should help out as well!" she added excitingly.

"Who's he?" skating closer to them, a girl with dark blue hair looked at them.

"Oh, that's right! You guys haven't met yet!" the red-haired woman laughed, "Suzuna, this is Sena," she said, "Sena, this is Suzuna!"

"Ah!" Sena's attention snapped up before bowing his head politely, "N-Nice to meet you, Suzuna-san."

"Huh? Oh yea, you too," she said, a slightly confused look on his face.

"Wait, Mamori," Wakana said leaning in closer with an innocent look on her face, "How do you know Sena?" she asked.

A proud grin on Mamori's face appeared as he said happily, "I'm Sena's guardian!" she proclaimed.

"M-Mamori-nee-chan!" Sena blushed furiously, "That was when we... were younger..."

The older sister figure smiled warmly, _That's right... _She thought, half-melancholy as she stared at the boy that she once protected, _Sena... You really grew up..._

She watched as Sena got up, very full and limp his way outside for some deep breaths.

_When had your back become so big?_

To say that Shogun was pleased, is an understatement.

He reached it before falling back down, training the players down to the dirt, but without a doubt, Sakuraba, Shin and Sena were going to be the key players in winning the Christmas Bowl.

Especially Sena.

"Sena, come over here," he said, and the male walked over to him, "Our bigger games will be against Seibu or Deimon," he said seriously, and the brunet nodded, "That is when you will show your strength. Everything you learned at Fuji, show everyone."

"Hai!" almost ecstatic at the idea that he would be able to show Kazuki and Shin his new capabilities.

The grin on Shogun's face did not go unnoticed.

"KORA!" the scream echoed within the stands as Ikari was quickly chained down by Otawara.

"Are you ever going to make your debut?" Sakuraba asked and Takami sighed, before looking off at Sena.

The small brunet was with Wakana, passing out water to the other teammates.

"Sena, shouldn't you be exercising with the rest of the team?" the manager asked and honey orbs laughed.

"I think it'll be fine," he said kindly, "I already did a pregame run, so I'll be fine."

"O-Okay..." the girl said, and then rushed off to help out with some other supplies.

Sena took a deep breath, Oujou are on the starting defense, so everything will be alright because Shin was there.

He hoped.

"Oh! The Sengoku Samurai's runner has very fast cuts!" an announcer cried out, "But it doesn't seem like it's enough for Shin SEIJURO!"

As though on cue, more screams erupted from the crowds in pure euphoria as Oujou continued making touchdowns.

The game ended with 88-0, with Kobayawa Sena running play with Sakuraba and Takami, and succeeding in making touchdowns almost every play, as well as Shin's and Otawara's defense

plunging through and successfully stealing the football and earning Oujou their next set of offense.

_There... There's no thirll.._. Sena inwardly sighed as he picked himself up to get to his part-time.

Sadly enough, he was back to putting his hair down so it swayed around him as he angry tried pushing his skirt down.

"H-Hello, how may I serve you?" looking up meekly, and cursed meekly.

Why did it have to be that guy that came?


	17. The Men Called Poseidon

Disclaimer: Don't own. So, you don't sue me.  
Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, fighting, alcohol, ect.  
Enjoy and review~~

Note: Kakei thinks Sena is a girl. In fact, Mizumatchi does. As well as Akaba, Kotarou, and Julie. For now.

daemonkieran: There is a reason why I keep writing about them.

Bloody Hero: Depending on how many requests I get, I may/may not make this yaoi. I'm leaning more onto the hinted couples side, because that's much more fun to write. And I can't write romance to save my ass. -.-

Baka-no-desu-21: Keep guessing. I'm not that obvious, yet.

eternal she-wolf: Ikari is troublesome, hard to write and push into scenes with. And I love him so freaking much, you'll be seeing more of him soon.

Reader One: I try.

Sachiel Angelo: I'm working on that.

cateyes123: That hurts. But I'm glad you came back and reviewed.

-x-

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

"Could you believe that someone tried to tarnish the Eyeshield 21 name?" he asked, "But... he can do it, I'm certain..." the older man rambled on.

_For once, he was alone in the cafe he always goes to._

"And then, poof! He disappears!" the male said, clearly stressed out by all this, "Why is it that all the Eyeshields I know keeps disappearing on me?" he asked quietly.

_It had been a while since he had came._

"What if there was only one eyeshield, because everyone else gave up the name?" the question came out and Kakei blinked, looking surprised at the girl next to him, "N-not that I'm trying to pry o-or anything!" the male called out.

"I... guess it would be okay..." he whispered, "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be pushing my problems on you..." he apologized to the sweet, Sena in front of him.

"No, it's okay, Kakei-san," Sena replied softly, "You're a valuable person to me and my boss, I want to help in anyway I can," he said.

Dark blue eyes blinked at him before Kakei mustered a smile, "Then... Would you like to come to our next game? Would you mind cheering for me?"

"Of course!" the male cheerfully laughed and the tall Kyoshin player perked up.

"I... I'll show you an amazing play then!"

A soft, fluffy smile, "Then... I... I shall be looking forward to it, Kakei-san."

A bright blush appeared on his face, before he attempted to cough it out, staring at the table and his thumbs, "...O... One coffee please," he said, looking at the shiny table as he twiddled with his fingers.

"Hai," the soft voice tickled Kakei's soul as he shyly watched the figure dance away.

"Oh, ho, ho!" the voice behind him made the male flinched as he whipped around, "So... This is where you were!"

The male wolf-whistled as the blush on the male's face grew darker.

"I see how you are, you leave me for this?" he cried out, a mock sad face on him.

"Yeah," the male dead-panned, before staring at the small maid, who came back and served him his coffee.

"Is there anything else?" Sena asked quietly.

Kakei blushed and Mizumatchi grinned, "I want some cake! Strawberry!" he said excitedly, "One small, please!"

"Hai," the brunet stiffly nodded before rushing off.

"I don't blame you," the blond said as he sat down in front of his teammate, and he whistled, "Wow."

"...Don't you-"

"Does she have a boyfriend?" he pondered aloud.

Kakei sighed irritatedly.

"Sena-kun, are you alright?" Sakuraba looked as his under-classmen, who came in rather lately the past couple of days.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine," the male chirped out, "Is there something wrong?"

"N-No," the tall receiver shook his head, "I haven't seen you around as often, and I was wondering if you want to go, you know," a pink dust cloud appeared on Sakruaba's face, "Just... Go hang out, have some fun," he said, "There's a new arcade that opened up down the street..."

"Okay," the brunet said easily, almost excited about the whole thing before he came off his high with a very hesitant voice, "W...Would that be okay?" he whispered softly.

A warm smile came off of Sakuraba, "It would be perfect," he replied, just as soft.

"Great! Then, let's go to the arcade this weekend!" he said, practically bouncing up and down.

A shy laugh came from the running-back, "Sure..."

Kakei Shun was not a happy man.

He had accepted the fact that height could be an advantage to a football match, but only some people, with a great amount of speed.

Like Deimon's Eyeshield 21.

But...

Cold eyes glared at the stands, where he saw that waitress from the cafe, standing with three other men.

In the Oujou White Knight section with the Oujou t-shirt on her.

Sure, she still looked really, really good in blue and white, but...

The people that were with her!

She waved politely, and Kakei blinked.

Smiling softly, he waved back, and all he heard were some high-pitched screams.

Man, he was so glad she didn't scream like that.

Of course, his good mood came crumbling down as Mizumatchi, who came out with the cheerleaders in their uniform, jumped around like a monkey, took off almost all his clothes, and began challenging Deimon.

Their Eyeshield wasn't there too either, which was slightly disappointing.

He wanted to see if he had improved at all...

_**-After-game-**_

Kakei sighed angrily, after the game, with a horrible loss to Deimon, he had completely destroyed Kobanzame's dream of the Christmas Bowl. Then, he let down Mizumatchi's promise to get to the Christmas Bowl, at the very top, where they would look down on the world around them.

If course to top even that, he had promised Sena that he would show her a great, magnificent play, and instead, showed her a pitifully bad game.

How disgraceful.

He and the rest of the Poseidons slowly changed, not liking (at all) the fact none of them would be playing again, as a full team.

As Kakei walked outside, he decided to watch the Oujou game, in hopes of finding the small waitress.

And of course, Mizumatchi followed despite all of his threats.

"Hey, Kakei-chan?" Mizumatchi called out as the male blushed darkly at the nick-name.

"What?" he growled out.

"Isn't that Sena-chan?" the blond asked as Kakei looked in utter-horror to see the small brunet score a touchdown against the Pirates.

On Oujou's team.

"Sena's a girl..." the male said, "And she plays football?" he was so confused, so completely and utterly confused.

What was going on?

Completely taken in by his inner turmoil, the male blinked in surprise as Oujou crushed the other team, 58-0.

It was amazing, Shin and Sena had great coordination on defense on the rare occasion that 21 played, and to top even that, Sena, Sakuraba, and Takami had an amazing style of offense that was far more graceful than a dance, and far more destructive than bombs.

Kakei Shun was left completely speechless.

"Mizumatchi. Let's go practice for next year's Christmas Bowl," he said, sharply turning to the blond.

The ex-swimmer grinned as he stared at the 'girl' in the Oujou game.

"You talk as though we might not make it," Mizumatchi grinned happily.

"I will not be left behind," the taller male said, a dark gloom appearing around him before he smiled kindly at the field in a certain running-back's direction, "Not ever again."


	18. Vulnerable

Disclaimer: Don't own. So, you don't sue me.

Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, fighting, alcohol, ect.

Enjoy and review~~

BTW: This chapter is just for laughs. The matches will start soon.

GreenOnBlack : Girls don't need to play football. They have powerpuff.

KitsuneDango : If your a Shin/Sena fangirl, you might want to stay away from this chapter.

yayubaru1 : ...Mamori. Fetch.

Holy Star : I have fun writing him, so, for now, don't think. Just enjoy. It's when people think that things start to unravel, and the loose threads will stay forever apart, right?

Pie-chan: I want to wrap up all my stories before summer ends. Once and for all. Sena is a boy that looks cute when mistaken as a girl. Not the other way around.

cristina : Wow. I made that mistake? Whoops. But yes, Kakei does not know the difference between 'Oujou's Sena' and 'Waitress Sena'.

Stargazer: I'm going to keep this a nano-meter away from the border-line of shonen-ai. Enjoy

Reader One : I love your reviews

Infinitechange : Hope you like this one

Tony: Thank you. It actually means something.

eternal she-wolf : Well, he can't be perfect, he's human after all.

Sachiel Angelo : Sakuraba? It gets better.

doodle808 :Angst? What angst? Sena's not angst, what are you talking about? (Run, Sena, Run!)And Kakei is not oblivious, he just needs to learn the difference between 'friends', 'enemies', and well, 'Love'. He will, one day.

daemonkieran : I wrote it, how do you think I was? Thank god I was at home instead of some place where people might try to put me in the isolation chambers...

-x-

The unnecessary chill rolled down his spine as he nervously glanced around. Everything was going fine! They had won their match with the Pirates, he was going out with Sakuraba to the arcade tomorrow after practice, and they were going to battle some other team that were the semi-finalists.

The chill quickly disappeared as the male gulped.

"Sena, are you alright?" Shin's strong voice grasped the male and strangled him out of his thoughts.

"Y-yes," the male said turning to his upper-classmen, as he gulped.

"Are you sure?" the male asked, "You've been shivering ever since we finished the game."

"What?" Takami shoved the linebacker aside and bent down to Sena's level, wrinkles of concern decorating his face like mud, as he studied him hard, raising his hand to measure the brunet's head.

"N-No! I'm fine, Takami-san!" Sena blushed darkly as he began shaking his hands in front of him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "Well, you certainly feel fine-"

"WHY ARE YOU FEELING SENA UP?" the scream erupted out of Wakana, and that seriously scared the shit-load out of everyone else.

"W-We're not," Sakuraba inwardly groaned, silently wondering why he was stuck with this kind of a team.

Meanwhile, Shogun quietly wondered why it wasn't Wakana that was in the football team.

"Bando Spiders?" Sena looked up from innocently blasting someone's head off to Sakuraba. Who wondered silently how anyone could remain innocent in the middle of this kind of games.

"Yeah, we're against them next week," the male replied easily, "30 points," he almost grinned as he shot someone's head off.

"What?" Sena's attention returned to the game as he sliced three heads off with a fatal swoop, "90 points," he called just as easily.

"They have last year's MVP," the receiver said, sticking his tonge out the corner of his mouth in some form of concentration.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, he's also 'Eyeshield 21' or something like that," the male said.

"Eyeshield 21?" the brunet repeated, already getting twitchy.

"Hah! 120 points!" Sakuraba called out happily, "Yeah, it's the title given to the worst runner in the decade... Or at least that's what Takami-san says."

"Really?" eyes went wide, and started to fill up like a well.

"Yeah, that's what Takami-san was talking about, right?" the two males, finishing the round, looked at each other, Sakuraba staring into watery chocolate brown eyes, alarmed, "Sena-kun?"

_I suck that badly? _The male thought in complete astonishment.

"I... I guess that's to be expected up," the male sniffled, "Since... I'm horrible at... A-American Football," he sobbed, "I'm sorry, Sakuraba-san!"

"N-No, I mean, I," the male stopped, "Wait, what's wrong?"

"H-H-Hiruma-san..." the running-back sniffled more and a cold shudder raced down the receiver's back.

Needless to say, this conversation went right to Takami the following hour.

You see, Takami Ichiro has developed... something for one Kobayakawa Sena.

It was... a brother's complex.

Yes, yes, it is very... difficult to deal with this kinds of things, as it's one of the things you just naturally act upon. Where you act first and think later.

But the problem with... Takami's problem, was in fact, that he can think and act at the same time.

Yes, this seems improbable, but this is the truth.

Brother complexes makes you act in a very particular action.

* * *

"Hiruma, what the hell did you fucking do to Sena?" when Takami said this, with the cold expression on his face as he attempted to freeze the room, everyone in the room, and almost half of all the school grounds, Hiruma was not affected.

In fact, he laughed it off, "Sorry, fucking four-eyes," he said happily, "I'm not telling you any-"

"Hiruma!" the yell came as someone came in, the Apocalypse itself.

Oh wait, that was Mamori Anezaki.

With a broom in her hand.

Oh dear.

"What did you do to Sena?" she demanded, the voice low and husky, as Takami's glasses halfway fell off his nose as he gaped like a fish.

So that was Sena's sister that the boy was babbling about? He could see why Sena would never, ever try to disappoint... her.

Hiruma, who seemed more serious than before, tried to laugh, "What's wrong with you, fucking manager?" he grinned.

"Sena," she growled, "What the-"

Kobayakawa shrank away as he slowly made his way to the football field, not wanting to soil what was left of his innocence as he tried to ignore the vulgar language that fell out of both Takami and Mamori like a crazy waterfalls.

Shuddering slightly, he began running laps with the Deimon football members, wondering if it was okay for a joint practice...

Naturally, Sena ran ahead of everyone at his jogging 5.0 speed as he calmly jogged around the football field in his Oujou training clothes.

"So, Sena," Riku said as he ran next to him, "Why were you playing for Deimon during the American match?" he asked easily, as the male almost fell over.

"R-Riku-nee?"

"Oh come on, did you really think I didn't know?" he asked, completely taken off-guard.

"Oh... Um..." the stammer and stuttering that came from the, before he sighed deeply, "Hiruma blackmailed me."

"What that little-"

"Oh, you too?" Juumonji, who had somehow caught up to the pair said simply as Sena gasped and Riku was ignored, "Hey," he greeted with a small grin.

"I'm so sorry!" Sena screamed before sprinting forward with his full 4.2 speed.

"Man, that run surprises me every time I see it," the male whispered as he continued to watch the male keep the speed up.

"Sena!" Riku yelled and turned to glare at the taller male, "Don't you dare go near him. Ever," he growled out dangerously as the ex-delinquent raised his arms up in a surrendering position.

"Whoa, I'm just trying to thank him, chill," he said.

"And don't you dare. Tell. Anyone. That he was playing for us," the white-haired male opened his eyes wide as he if was trying to intimidate him.

Well, he was creeping him out.

"Okay," the white-haired male said easily, "I'm not stupid. I have enough common sense as to those kinds of things," the two continued jogging side-by- side.

In the far distance, "MUKYA!" and "A-ha-ha!" as well as a familiar, "Hie! I'm so sorry!" was heard.

The pair chose to ignore it.

"Besides," Juumonji turned his head slightly to stare at the brunet, who was actually getting along well with his teammates, and chuckled lightly at the sight of Kuroki and Toganou talking about something, probably another game or manga, "I'm going to fight him at the Christmas Bowl, right?"

Riku blinked. And then twitched.

When had those two developed _that_ kind of a relationship?

"Whoa! Juumonji!" Toganou said, seems to be that Riku and Juumonji really slowed down as Sena blasted past them.

"Sena!" Riku called, but the male was already out of ear-shot, he sighed.

"I'm not blushing!" Juumonji's scream made the white-haired, irritated male turn over.

"Aw... Kazu-chan has a cru-"

"If you finish that sentence I swear to god I'm going to slam your head against the ground," the dark look that came out of his mouth, and his two best friends rolled over in laughter.

"Whatever you say, Juumonji," Toganou laughed roughly, "We're stay with you no matter what, don't worry."

The pale male's pink face turned darker.

"And in case you need 'help' too!" Kuroki continued laughing.

Juumonji turned into an unhealthy red color.

His two best friends continued running away from him as Riku said, in a very, very low whisper, "If you come near my little brother," he said, eyes flashing dangerously, "I will fucking rip you apar-"

"R-R-Riku-nee?" the pair turned around to see innocent, wide brown eyes.

Had he _actually_ heard some form of vulgarity come out of his brother's mouth?

"Sena?" the white-haired male turned to him and broke into a grin, "Wanna hit the arcade with me tomorrow?" he asked.

Juumonji sweat-dropped at the bi-polar male.

The smaller male blushed furiously and nodded, "O-Okay!"

The ex-delinquent muttered under his breath, "Brother Complex," he coughed once before turning to start running before their captain came down and shoot at them.

Again.

"I don't have a brother's complex!" Riku screamed in fustration.

"Riku-nee has a brother complex?" Sena gaped, "He must be so cool," the sparkles in his eyes were unmistakable.

"No, wait Sena-"

"Oh, so... I'm the only one that doesn't know about Riku-nee's older brother," he sniffled.

Riku, who was now desperately trying to clear up the mess, as the paler male ran off, leaving the other two behind as he vaguely saw three people come out of the clubhouse.

All three somewhat still intact with themselves, Juumoji sighed softly.

Sena had misunderstood it all once more, hasn't he?


	19. The Man Who Grew To Be A Knight

Disclaimer: I don't own Eyeshield 21, and Thread really belongs to theif-uchia.

Warning: Hiruma and Agon… Cursing, blackmail, you might get some nose-bleeds, hinted pairings, bad writing, alcohol, ect.

Enjoy and review~~

This is in dedication to theif-uchia, who had unfortunately passed away. Here on , we never know what happens to an author unless we are that close to them, but I feel that the people who have been fatefully following this story deserved to know. So, theif-uchia, here's to you. The last chapter of Thread because when you died, you took this story with you.

RIP thief-uchia.

Thank you for being with this story to the very end. It may not be very satisfying to you, but the notes of the story will be put up sooner than later.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

The laughter was unlike any other, with celebration echoing through _because they had won._

Sena gulped and looked up towards the sky, hopefully and happy and everything he wasn't even a couple of months ago.

"Thank you," he whispered softly.

To the sky, to the field.

To his legs.

To coming to Oujou because he had fallen in love with the best thing that has ever happened to him.

"TOUCHDOWN!"

Sena, with adrenaline pumping, turned and grinned because he had found something that he never realized was possible (because him? With a sport?)

"OUJOU WHITE KNIGHTS WINS!"

Sena remembers being held and being thrown, being caught and that's all the difference.

They won. All those hours and tears and blood and sweat was not wasted because they had won and they-

Sena's eyes snapped open with a rapping on the dorm room and he rolled out of bed and opened the door.

"Hello..." he yawned as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eye.

"Good morning, Kobayakawa-kun."

Sena blinked before his face went scarlet red (how had he missed his alarm?), "Oh. I... Um... please give me a little time to get dressed," he barely squeaked out before nearly disappearing as he sprinted away for the bathroom.

Shin allowed himself into the room, the door closing behind him as he pulled his water bottle out for a drink. He put the bottle away back into his pocket and stood calmly at the doorway.

Sena came back, in record time, with his training gear on and ruffled, but the male looked ready to go, big, bright eyes staring up at Shin as the two made their way out.

On their morning jog, was Sakuraba Hayato, joining them with a bright hello. Shin responded with a nod and Sena stuttered one out.

Sakuraba carefully noted how the male still wasn't very used to him.

Sena and Sakuraba talked little of some drama and radio shows before they were too out of breath to continue talking.

"But in honesty though," Sakuraba panted out, "I'm really glad you joined football."

Sena blinked at him and gave a soft smile, "Really? Oh... I um..." he paused for a moment, and then smiled back as confidently as he could. "I'm really glad I decided to join. Football is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

It wasn't a lie.

And the trio took a warm bask in memories as they entered the school once more, moving to go eat some breakfast before going to football practice.

Football practice was every bit gruesome, dirty, and sweaty that Sena remembered and grew to love like it was the only thing he ever had (and in a sense, it was). He also loved every drop of water he could get during breaks, but couldn't muster up any form of hatred because of the lack of it.

"I love football," he blurted out during practice.

It was after coaches yelling that they weren't good enough. It was after Sena was slammed down into the ground because Shin does not know how to hold back. It was after three hours in the sun without a break. And the team, at first turned to stare in astonishment and a little annoyance, but soon melted into soft snickers themselves.

Sena just looked so happy and dazed that they couldn't help at his sincerity in his voice.

"Hey Shin, you finally did it. You hit one of our players so hard he just lost it," one joked.

"SHIN DID WHAT?!" Wakana's voice was short of venomous and the Coach snapped at them to focus.

Sena blinked a little and before he knew it (too soon, on top of that), he was told that he had to go and actually go pay attention in class.

"Eh? Already?"

More looks of astonishment, and Sena blushed a little more, and scurried to class.

Class was boring and dull and lame and Sena spent most of it thinking about another new way to train as he yawned.

He then was called up to the front to explain and answer a problem that looked like gibberish to him, and was publicly humiliated.

It was no secret that people didn't like him. He didn't blame them. There was nothing to like about him.

_No Sena, you said you wouldn't go down that road again. Not when you have football to go back to._

Sena gave a soft sigh as he tried to make himself focus onto Japanese Literature.

"Okay class, think of it like this," his teacher brought out a piece of string, "Every single person has their own thread. But, when people meet," he pulled out another thread and intertwined the two, "they create a bond. It doesn't matter how you feel about them, you could know everything about them, or nothing at all. But that doesn't mean that you are not intertwined with them..."

Sena blinked and vaguely wondered how messy his thread was, because there were so many people that he had to thank. There were so many people that had made an impact on him, one way or another.

And then they were dismissed for lunch, and for once, Sena didn't jump out of his seat and go sprinting down for lunch where the football team usually ate. He packed slowly, eyes finding some of his classmates group off and walk away, vaguely wondering how everyone was connected.

He quickly shrugged it off to go talk about some cooler ideas for an offensive formation for him and Shin-san.

Lunch ended with bright happy laughter and hurried motions to get back to class, and Sena thinks that Mamori-neechan would be extremely proud of him.

He had real friends. He had a real team. He had everything that he had ever wished for really, except winning the Christmas Bowl but he could work for that later.

Kobayakawa Sena walked to practice that day with his head held high because he was a knight.

And he needed to bring glory to the kingdom.

(But first, he'll bring his kingdom to the Christmas Bowl. And win it.)

-Fin...?

A/N: I may/may not be uploading mine and theif-uchia's notes for this. But, thank you for reading this entire time. I'm sorry that this couldn't explode out into the full story I wanted to (because the Hakushuu match was going to be fun). I hope that this ending feels like an actual ending and I'm sorry that it's a little rushed but I think this is a good place to stop.


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